Winds of Aeolus
by Ugly Kitten
Summary: Co-write! Me and my baby bro are co-writing. When David and Angel are asked to change the fates of Harry Potter's story, what will happen? Not your ordinary fan fiction! *Complete*
1. Mission Accepted

Okay, time for a new fan fiction, a new genre! Harry Potter is my new target. But not just any old story, noooooo. My little brother made this one up himself! My nine-year-old brother and I are co-writing this one together.

Of course, this _is_ a lot of a little boy's imagination from his big sister reading to him, so be mindful in reviews that most of this _is _coming from a little boy. He doesn't mind criticism, but keep it PG rating...

Disclaimer: We do not own J. K. Rowling's _Harry Potter_ series, but we do own our own thoughts and ourselves. David and Angel are us, after all.

Angel Sari Neko Jeminie Galis- proudly presents _Winds of Aeolus_.

*************

Chapter 1: Mission Accepted

"Mom, I'm going to bed!"

"Sissy, wait!" David, my younger brother protested, holding up a book. "You promised!"

My smile spoke everything; I wanted to read, but I was tired. The book waved temptingly in my face, and I took it, sitting down on the green couch again. I hated the color green now. 

"Yes, I did promise we'd start the new one today. And we've got to finish by June if we're going to read the fifth one together;" I grinned and opened it. "_The Goblet of Fire_, _by J. K. Rowling. Chapter One: The Riddle House_."

"Why's it called _Goblet of Fire_?" David interrupted.

"You'll find out later," I laughed, feeling evil.

"Are we really going to the Riddle house?"

"Yes. Let's start, shall we?"  
He nodded eagerly and waited for me to start, blue eyes shining. I had loved my youngest brother since the day he was born. The two of us had gotten much closer over the past three years.

All because of four wonderful books by an Englishwoman named J. K. Rowling.

"_The villagers of Little Hangleton still called it "the Riddle House," even though it had been many years since the Riddle family had lived there..._"

I continued reading, but more than that, I watched my brother's reaction to the story. It was beautiful; his eyes were glistening with rapt attention and his blond hair seemed to stand on end as I reached the end of the chapter.

"_...Two hundred miles away, the boy called Harry Potter woke with a start._ End chapter, page fifteen."

"Is Lord Voldemort really going to kill Harry?" David hung off my arm in terror, eyes wide. I chuckled dangerously, knowing it would frighten him. 

"Babe, you needn't worry so much," I smiled. "But I will tell you this much; someone _will_ die and Voldemort will rise again."

His eyes went wider than before, if possible, looking like giant dinner plates on his small, freckled face. 

"Now go to bed, David, we've got stuff to do in the morning," I glanced at my purple watch. "It's two o'clock in the morning. Good night."

He yawned and fell back on his pillow, but I never saw it hit.   
My baby brother had disappeared.

"David!" I shrieked hysterically, diving at the couch immediately. "David?! DAVID!!!!" As suddenly as my fist hit the pillow, everything went a strange shade of blue, which faded to black. Due to the subtle fact that I am terrified of the dark, I did the only thing I could. 

I started screaming for my brother.

"DAVID!! DAVID!!" I looked around wildly, hoping against faith that a speck of light, at the least, would appear and light my way. Falling through the air was not the best thing to be doing when swinging around left to right.

"SARAH!!" I heard my little brother's voice, his sweet, innocent voice contorted in a fury of fright that I did not want to think about.

"David, keep talking, I'm coming, baby," I whimpered, then mentally slapped myself. This was no time to panic. Of course, it was better to panic now and revive later, because somehow I knew it was going to get much, much worse.

"Got you!" I shouted seconds later as I found David. More secure in my emotional department and glad that we were both safe for the time-being, I glanced around, noticing that light had indeed appeared. 

"Look, Sarah, it's all blue," David said, clutching my waist. A tiny robot of some kind appeared out of no where and started scanning us, or so it seemed, with a white light.

"W-We're changing!" I gulped in awe as a black cape surrounded my shoulders, my black jeans becoming brand-new again, my shirt changing to bright red. The same thing was happening to David. The last thing I noticed to change was our hair; both of us suddenly had sleek black hair, his spiky and wild, and mine short and straight.

There was one change about David that I simply did not want to believe. As our appearances and clothes changed, we had remained mostly the same. But when the light traced us from head to foot, I noticed that I was shrinking. David, however, was growing. Growing at a very fast rate. As suddenly as it had appeared, the robotic thing had changed us both into completely different people, about eleven years old and the same height.

"D-David?" I whispered to him. "Don't be scared, baby. I don't know what's happening, but-"  
"-but we'll be all right," he finished. I let out a sigh of relief; he still sounded the same, only a little less squeaky. "We look the same, sis. A-And...I know this sounds crazy, but I th-think...I think I'm smarter."  
"S-Smarter?" I cocked my head, letting him go. Whatever was happening, we weren't going to be landing anytime soon. "Like-like what?"  
"I-I can read your shirt. I-It says 'Angel'."

Tears sprang to my eyes. He could read. It was one word, but he could READ that one word. David could read. And he could talk, too. Like a normal person.

Any other person would wonder why I would start crying because my brother could read and talk like a normal person. It was a happy moment for me, even though we both looked a lot different than before. 

The reason I burst into tears right there was nothing short of a miracle; David had been nine years old when I was reading to him. He couldn't read at all, could barely talk, and was as shy as I had been only a few years earlier.

It was a new miracle.

***

"How long have we been falling?" David whined. I guess he couldn't quite shake the more annoying qualities about him. He still was whining.

"About an hour," I answered. My watch read 3:15 AM. So much for trying to get some sleep.

"When do you think we'll get there?"

"I don't even know where 'there' is," I grumbled back. As suddenly as I said "is", we stopped. Not because we had hit the ground, either. We had just abruptly...stopped.

"Where are we?"

"Do I have to say it again?" I sighed. "I don't know."  
"Isn't this the sort of thing you write about, in your fan fiction?" 

He'd hit the nail on the head.

"Yeah, it is, but why would it be happening to both of us? I mean, usually, it's just a girl going to whatever dimension and she falls in love with whomever she really likes or she changes the world to her liking," I shrugged. "This doesn't exactly fit. No offense, but little boys don't usually get sucked into these things with their sisters following _them_."  
"None taken."

"I wonder what is going to happen to us?"  
"I don't know."  
I knew that much, but I didn't voice it.

"You both are wonderful, beautiful!" clapped a strange voice. It wasn't deep as much as it was loud. It sounded more tenor than bass.

"Who are you?" I snarled, ready to fight. "What are you looking for? What do you want?"  
"I _wanted_ a young man willing to do a favor for me," stated the voice slyly. "I did not know his sister would follow."

My face flushed bright red.

"What'd you expect me to do?!"

"Exactly what you did."  
"Uh...lemme get this straight," I said warily. "You didn't expect me to follow him, but you expected it of me anyway?"

"Precisely."  
This guy had lost more than a few light bulbs on his Christmas tree.

"Show yourself."

My back stiffened. David's voice was so commanding, so courageous, and so...calm. I hadn't expected him to speak at all. He had that voice that you just couldn't refuse for anything. The kind I hoped my boyfriend would never have.

"Touchy, touchy," chuckled the voice. In front of David and myself appeared an elderly man whom I felt I knew, yet I had never seen him before in my life. "I think I have found the perfect candidate for my experiment."

"Experiment?!" I growled. "Why you-"  
"Suppress your anger, little Dragon Angel," he said, a little more sharply than needed. 

"No one speaks to my sister like that," David sneered at the old man. "State your business, then leave us be."  
Wow. I never knew my brother could be so...cool.

"Well said, young David," smirked the old man. "I shall consider this when writing your parents."  
"What are you talking about?" My temper was flaring, and that wasn't good. "Do what he said. Explain!"

"Like sister, like brother, I suppose," the old man shrugged. "I am Aeolus."

"No, you're not," my green eyes flashed. "Aeolus is my best friend, he's only fifteen years old."

"Yes and no," Aeolus smiled. "I am Aeolus, but not the one you know. I'm from the future. We haven't much time, the Hogwarts Express arrives soon. It will take you to your holding house."

"Did you just say the _Hogwarts Express_?" As suddenly as the anger had taken me, it was pushed out the window with excitement.

"Of course," he smiled. "In return for me bringing you here, I would request of you one thing."

"What?" David asked excitedly. Apparently he felt the same way I did.

"You destroy Lord Voldemort. Had things been made to be the way they are now, he would have escaped yet again after the seven years of Harry's reign as the main character of Rowling's series. I want you to be certain he is disposed of."  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" I screeched.

"Let's go!" shouted David.

"Hold your horses, kids," chuckled Aeolus. "First off, there are a few rules to this little adventure. I would suggest keeping your true identities a secret. Things are not always what they seem. I have made arrangements with Dumbledore. You will be made to seem as American transfer students, and will be staying with Hermione Granger for the time before departure, about two weeks."

"That book worm?" David grimaced.

"COOL!" I shouted.

"You must be careful. I have your original bodies here, but that won't help if your minds are destroyed. Tread carefully."  
"We will!" the two of us chorused. "Thank you!"

"you're welcome. Sayonara."

As suddenly as we had fallen in the couch, we had appeared at King's Cross Station, between the platforms of 9 and 10.

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Does anyone else smell a big fat rat here? Come on, tell me someone's caught the scent of deceit??? Well, all right, so it's not exactly the best beginning to a fan fiction ever written, but please keep reading. It will get better, trust me. 


	2. Hermione Granger

In light of our first reviews, David and I wish to celebrate with the uploading of our second chapter, which may enlighten you into a deeper understanding of the title character of this chapter.

Also, we get to reveal what we think Hermione's parents are like. We would like to dedicate this chapter to our first reviewers, Nabiko and MoonPrincess. (Thanks a lot, both of you. David is soooooooo happy right now, you wouldn't believe it!)

Disclaimer: David and I only own ourselves. We do not own Harry Potter, but we do own Aeolus and the nice version of *blank*. 

Thank you!

Chapter 2: Hermione Granger

"Galis!" screamed a woman with bushy black hair. A man beside her held his ears tightly, begging silently that his wife, who she apparently was, to be quiet. He had sort of medium brown hair. Between them was a girl Sarah and I had only seen in the first two Harry Potter movies.

"David and Angel Galis!" called the woman again, whom I suppose was Hermione's mother. I knew she was a dentist, as well as her husband, but she didn't look it, really. More like an out-of-control over-grown punk star or something. It was a wonder where Hermione had gotten her adult-sounding voice.

Her father was more submissive than his wife was. Unlike her, he had thick glasses and definitely a small nose and short, neat hair. It was a wonder how they'd ever married in the first place.

"That's us!" Sarah cried beside me, racing toward the wild-looking woman and docile man and the obviously embarrassed Hermione.

"Why'd she call you Angel?" I asked.

"Probably something to do with Aeolus," she answered offhandedly. "Come on, Hermione's mom doesn't look like she's gonna wait forever."  
I silently agreed. Mrs. Granger didn't seem to be the patient type.

"Good morning!" crowed the woman.

"Hello," said the man and Hermione timidly.

"Come, come, mustn't dally," and Mrs. Granger grabbed my arm, pulling me almost directly into a new-looking car.

"So," said Sarah; No, I need to start calling her Angel, I suppose, "Where do you live? We didn't really get much information from Professor Dumbledore."  
"Oh?" said Mrs. Granger. "Strange, we got an awful lot from your Kansas School of Wizards and Whatnot. I must say, Miss Angel, for such a far place to be from home, you aren't very nervous. Our Hermione's been worried sick for weeks and look at her, hasn't made a peep yet, poor child."

Mrs. Granger couldn't possibly know how far away from home we were. Glancing at Hermione, though, I could tell she was embarrassed from what her mother said. The three of us kids were stuffed into the back, me on one side, Angel on the other.

"Your mum's pretty cool," I whispered to her.

"I wish," she muttered, blushing. "Your name's David, right?"  
"Yeah," I answered. "And your Hermione, am I mistaken?"

"No, you're not. I'm glad we found one person who could pronounce it right," Hermione laughed a little. I blushed and nodded, smiling.

"So when are we going to Hogwarts?" I asked.

"Next week," she answered. "And I still haven't gotten my books yet! I wanted so to read them before we headed there. Now I'll probably have to read them on the train."  
"No, no, dear," interrupted her mother, overhearing us. "We're going to buy your things today, no need to worry. Must keep up your grades, true?"

"True," Hermione repeated with a sigh.

"A representative from Hogwarts will be meeting us so we can go and buy them," Mrs. Granger said. "Someone named 'McGonagall', or something like that."

"Professor McGonagall!" Angel breathed beside Hermione.

"You know her?"

"Well...I read up on her from a book," Angel said, not totally lying, either. I silently applauded her brilliance. She had always been good at that sort of thing, being smart, I mean. She was the smartest person in our family, when it came to diversity. No one else knew more about culture, writing, reading, and drawing. She could almost do math as well as my dad, who is an electrical supervisor.

It was then, studying her, that I noticed something else about my sister. Before those robots had scanned us, she had been on the chubby side. Not necessarily fat (okay, she weighed two-hundred pounds, but she didn't look it), really. 

Now, however, I noticed that she looked extremely skinny. She was well-built, as she had always been (she had once beaten a group of boys at arm-wrestling), but the stomach that she had once had was gone. Her upper chest area (I averted my eyes then), had also disappeared.

I noticed with some satisfaction that I, too had gained some muscles to flex. Wondering briefly how strong I was, I didn't realize we had arrived at the broken-down pub famous throughout my world.

"David!" Angel came through the window and shook my shoulder. "Wake up, kid, we're here." She leaned in closer and whispered, "We're at the Leaky Cauldron! Can you believe it?!"

It took about a minute for that to sink in, to the point that Angel tugged me out of the car in a sort of daze. Hermione cocked an eyebrow at me and asked my sister if I did this all the time.

"No," Angel answered. "He's probably repenting about what he said earlier."  
"What'd he say?"

"Oh, nothing that would interest you, I'm sure," Angel said evasively. Hermione accepted it at that and I was very grateful for Angel's subtle way with words.

The first stop was Gringotts bank; I stared at the tall, stone structure and felt humbled. So large was the place that I feared getting lost, forgetting that the goblins never allowed people to tread the halls beyond alone.

However, we did not go much farther than the entrance. A woman with reddish-brown graying hair (she reminded me subtlety of my own mother, with legs) wrapped in a tight bun and with small round glasses met us at the door.

"Good morning," she said. "I expect you're Angel and David Galis? And Hermione Granger?"

She looked at each of us, and I felt as though she were reading our minds. Angel answered boldly anyway.  
"Yes, ma'am, I'm Angel, and this is my brother, David."

"Then come along. Miss Granger, if you wish to stay with your parents-"  
"No, that's all right," Hermione interrupted quickly. "I'll go with you." She suddenly looked very excited.

"Very well, come along."

"We'll be waiting for you three at the Leaky Cauldron!" Mr. and Mrs. Granger called after us.

"When Albus told me about the two of you, I immediately wanted to assist you," McGonagall said, heading toward Ollivanders, the closest store. The one store I dreaded entering, a close first to Flourish and Blotts with Hermione with us.

"About them being American transfer students in England, you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Er...yes, yes, precisely, Miss Granger," I noticed the pause in McGonagall's voice, but apparently Hermione had not.

We entered the shop, three eleven-year-old new Hogwarts students and a Hogwarts teacher. The eerie silence of the place sent chills down my spine, even as I expected the wild-looking white-haired man to appear from behind the shelves of wands in their boxes.

"Professor McGonagall," said the man as he appeared, smiling pleasantly. "Wonderful to see you."  
"And you, Mr. Ollivander. If you would be so kind, we are in a bit of a hurry."  
"A new Muggle-born, I see," said the man. "And two more, it appears."

"Oh, yes," Professor McGonagall looked at the two of us sternly, as though telling us through her eyes. _Yes, you are Muggle-born. You must keep up that story, too._ I stored it away in my memory carefully, one file that would not be shredded in my mind.

"Hold out your wand hand," said Ollivander, and I panicked for a moment. Which hand was that? My writing hand? Or my weaker hand? Ah! I'd forgotten!

Angel, however, hadn't. She held out her writing hand as quickly as possible. I followed her example.

Ollivander handed us each a wand and we began the waving festival of trying to find the right wand for the right owner. I tried dozens of wands and they piled high on Ollivander's table at the front of the shop.

Finally, I found the first wand. It blew up wind around me and I felt as though angels were singing just for me. I smiled and studied the wand for a moment before handing it to Ollivander to place into a box.

He smiled, but didn't say anything. 

I watched, puzzled, as he headed to the back of the shop and handed a wand to my sister, who took it out of curiosity. He handed another one to Hermione.

All were surprised when both wands caused the same reaction between the two girls.

"Curious, I must say," said Ollivander, quoting himself. "Very curious."  
"Excuse me," Angel quoted Harry. "But what's curious?"

"It is curious that the three of you should be destined to have wands that all have the same core and the same wood, which is Magnolia," he smiled. "It is also very curious that these are very special wands, with a double core. A single unicorn hair from the same unicorn and a single phoenix feather given by the same phoenix which resides in Dumbledore's office at this very moment."

I did see that this was reason to be astounded, but Angel gasped very loudly and went tremblingly pale. She remained that way, thoughtful and silent as we paid for the wands and left Ollivander's shop with a wand each. McGonagall asked her if she was all right, but she did not answer.

"Let me talk to her a second, we'll catch up," I said, stopping. I tugged Angel to a stop, and she obeyed in a sort of daze.

"Sis, what's the matter?" I whispered to her.   
"Fawkes' feathers are in our wands," she whispered, eyes wide. She looked on the verge of tears.

"So? What does that mean that you suddenly look-"  
"Harry's wand has a core made of another feather from Fawkes," she whispered again, looking at me with her green eyes.

"Angel, I know it's a weird coincidence, but-"  
"It's no coincidence."  
"What do you mean? Angel-"  
"Fawkes gave another feather," she whispered. "'Just one other', he said. No, he gave five feathers now."  
"Angel-"  
"Voldemort has the other one."  
That stopped me short.

"Angel, please, try and act normal. Come on, we'll discuss it later, when we have time, maybe with Hermione, too. Just please, act casual."  
She gulped hard and nodded and followed me to the robes shop, where McGonagall and Hermione were waiting.

"What was wrong?"  
"Nothing, I just realized that I left my disk at home, and then I remembered that there weren't any computers at Hogwarts," Angel smiled sheepishly. They nodded and we went in. I'm glad Angel has such a way with words.

When we had finished gathering everything else, we headed to the last place I wanted to go with Hermione Granger and Angel Galis; the book store.

"Flourish and Blotts," Angel said outside of the store. "Do we have much left over, Professor?"

"Yes, your parents sent plenty of spending money. Much more than needed for your first year."  
"I know why," I told our soon-to-be teacher as Hermione and Angel jumped up and down in glee. "They're both book-a-holics."  
"You do not enjoy reading?"

"I didn't learn how until recently, and my sister helped me greatly," it was true. Angel had been trying to teach me to read ever since the start of her sophomore year at high school. That was when she had started reading the Harry Potter books to me.

"Perhaps we can find you something of better standard to your taste, per say," McGonagall gave a small half-smile. "After we have purchased your schoolbooks, of course."   
The girls were still rampaging around the store with their money, collaborating on books to buy and such and promising each other full reign to read each book. They were getting along very well. For a moment, I wished I had Angel's feverish want to read, read, read, but slapped myself mentally. 

"Girls, be sure to meet us at the ice cream parlor across the street as soon as you are finished," McGonagall told them sharply. 

"Okay, Professor!"

"Come along."

Since the girls were left to their own devices, I was glad to find that McGonagall led me to the one place I hadn't really expected; a pet store.

"We'll get you a pet. After all, you're allowed one."  
"I want an owl," I said promptly.   
"An owl, mate?" asked the woman at the counter with a distinctly Australian voice. "You look like the snowy kind of guy."  
"Nah," I shook my head. I didn't want my owl to stick out if I was going to send messages. 

"How about this beauty?" I knew nothing about owls, but this one was _beautiful_. "She was just hatched three months ago. A hybrid between snowy and Great Horned. All the personality of a tamed snowy." The golden feathers and blue eyes of the owl made her even more beautiful to me.

"I'd love her," I smiled at the lady.

"Only three Galleons."  
That was how I bought owl. I called her Keiko.

Needless to say, we were quite a sight on the way to Hermione's house. Angel and Hermione were reading their new books, saying aloud things that sounded interesting.

I was petting Keiko.

"It says here that Hogwarts' Great Hall ceiling is bewitched to look like the night sky!" Hermione squealed excitedly. I already knew that, but everyone exclaimed about it promptly.

The Grangers' house was large, a three-story house made of brick. It was painted white and had blue trim. The inside was wonderful. Everything was warm colors and had huge furniture. It also smelled wonderful. Apparently, Mrs. Granger had been preparing a big meal.

While she was putting the finishing touches on that, we went upstairs, where Hermione showed us two guest rooms that had been prepared just for us. A pale blue room and a dark blue room. 

Of course, I got the dark blue.

Hermione and Angel continued exclaiming more things about the books that they had been reading. Hermione had obviously been reading _Hogwarts, A History_, but Angel had decisively been reviewing the Potions book we had been assigned.

"And did you know that the stairs like to _change_? All on their own!" Hermione said again. "And it's got a list of what they do usually, unless they change their minds. 

We sat down to a traditional dinner from Georgia. Mrs. Granger had somehow found out we had lived there. She made mashed potatoes and gravy, collard greens, fried chicken, and apples for dessert. I had almost forgotten they were dentists until they reminded us to brush our teeth.

Hermione and Angel had finally finished their wild explanations of potions and Hogwarts, but neither girl stopped chattering. Angel started in on her life in the U.S., which Hermione found fascinating, especially how many things Angel had gone through. (One time she was attacked by a shark!)

Finally, at nine-thirty, the girls yawned and we were ushered off to bed. It had been a wonderful day, and I hoped it would be a wonderful seven years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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So, what'd you guys think of Sam and Ken? All his idea! *points madly at David*

D-Sam was my idea, yup. But it was Angel's to keep Ken like that.

A-Hope you guys enjoy the story further, we've already got ten chapters done. 


	3. The Treasures Untold

Well, I'm very glad for the response this is getting! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, and thanks to my friends. You guys are great! MoonPrincess, Telex, this one's for you guys! 

Unexpected turns await us. Someone is dead, and that person has thrown off a little too much for Angel and David's liking. Geez, I think David's making himself just a little too perspective.

Disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter. We don't make money from this. 

Actually, as you read this story, you'll get to know myself and David a little more. All of the "past events" that we talk about actually happened. Enjoy!

***

Chapter 3: The Treasures Untold

When I awoke the next morning to the sun's bright rays, I was surprised to notice that it was precisely six o'clock. Old habits die hard, I suppose. (AN-I (Angel) wake up at five every morning for school. I wake at six during the holidays out of habit.) The house was silent, but I was glad to see that there was light coming from the kitchen, which I could see from my third-floor guest bedroom.  
The trunk I had "brought" with me lay open at the foot of my new bed. Inside were all the small treasures and pleasures that I had had when David and I had been just two ordinary kids in a whole different world.

I dug through the neatly-packed trunk. Aeolus must have known our personal tastes, because David had pointed out that his trunk looked as though he had packed it himself. It was extremely messy.

Pulling out some clothes (my typical black jeans and a blue shirt), I closed the trunk again and tip-toed down the hall. Quiet as a mouse, I snuck into the kitchen. Sam (Hermione's mom) was there, cooking breakfast.

"Good morning!" I chirped happily.

"Look who's up early," she smiled. I walked over and started setting the table, seeing that she was almost done making the flapjacks. At first my opinion of her had been rather distant, but she had turned out to be a lot like my own mother. She cared about her family and could really cook well and always knew how to make me laugh.

When the boys and Hermione came down later, it was a joyful thing. Although this wasn't my real family, I suddenly felt as though my other brother (Matthew) had been replaced by Hermione and we were all one happy family. She was more like a sister than I had ever thought possible.

"We've got to get to work, kids, you need anything?" Sam asked as she cleaned up.  
"That's okay," I smiled and David nodded. Hermione agreed justly as well.

David immediately went to Ken's (Hermione's dad) computer and played games until after he got home. Hermione and I went upstairs for some girl time. 

"What's in the shoebox?" she asked, pointing to it inside my trunk.

"Little treasures," I answered with a smile. Inside was my locket, my stories, a little photo album, and several books. If no one has guessed yet, yes, I am a book worm. I love to _know_ stories. I showed each to Hermione, glad to see that I had pictures of my real family and my "fake" family inside. I could just tell her that my real family was my aunt's or uncle's or something. 

"So why did you come?" Hermione asked. That question stumped me for a moment. After all, I was here for a reason that Hermione didn't know anything about and wouldn't until she finished reading her books. And I still couldn't tell her that I was here to stop Voldemort. On top of that, I had promised not to tell anyone about my true identity. But what could I tell her?

"Well..." I murmured, trying to think. "I'd heard a lot about Hogwarts and...I...um..." I was stumped for maybe the first time in my life on what to say. Why would anyone come nearly four thousand miles (or so it seemed) to go to a school they'd only heard in rumor and books? Why would I? 

"Yeah, I heard a bit about it, too, actually," Hermione said, laughing and pointing at her room, where lay many books. "I meant how did you come to be the first American transfer?"

"I guess because I didn't like Kansas," I answered. This was totally factual. I had hated my home in Kansas, mostly because there was nothing to do. "I've always wanted to see something out of the ordinary, and I guess I got my wish."  
"You can say that again," Hermione chuckled. "The things you can do in such a school! It's a castle, you know, and it has so many secret rooms and passageways, its a wonder how the Founders built it."  
"What were their names again?" I asked, knowing full well. I had always loved the charismatic names Rowling had given the Hogwarts founders.

"Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Griffindor, and Salazaar Slytherin," she answered promptly. 

"Is there anywhere you can play video games or anything?"

"No. All electronic equipment that Muggles use shorts out upon entering anywhere near Hogwarts' grounds," Hermione answered, just as immediately.

"It figures."

"So, have you learned anything from our Potions book?" 

"Yeah, a lot," I smiled brightly, glad to change the subject to something else. I listed off a string of potions that I figured we would be doing this year (some of which I knew). Inwardly, though, I grimaced at the pictures that flew through my mind. These thoughts were mostly of the snake-like Snape, our soon-to-be Potions teacher. I had a mind to tell Hermione to steer clear of him, but held my tongue.

"Hey, Angel!" I heard my brother call. "You've got to see this!"

"Coming!" Hermione and I ran down the stairs to the second floor, where Ken's computer area lay. 

"What's up, Dee?" I asked. I have so many little nicknames for him, I hardly ever notice them anymore.

"Take a look at this," he said gravely. An owl sat on the shelf beside him, and in his lap was a letter bearing the Hogwarts school crest. It was sealed with red wax, but had been opened.

I took the letter from him, a stone lump forcing its way into my stomach. My teeth felt like they would chatter off if I let them, but I clenched them tight until I read aloud:

__

To the Students and the Parents thereof of Hogwarts:

Due to the recent death of our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell, it is recommended that students study their books for the first two weeks of this class. We will keep you updated on developments concerning this case. Hogwarts urges all students to remain calm during this time. Remember, the Hogwarts Express leaves September 1st and will not hold for anyone.

Deputy Headmistress

Minerva McGonagall

David and I exchanged a worried glance. This was not good. Not good at all.  
"Oh, dear," Hermione whispered. "What rotten luck."

"I agree," I gave a weak smile. "Not much we can do on the matter, though."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Hermione nodded, and looked as though she felt much better. She headed up the stairs. David and I exchanged one final glance.

"Meet me in my room tonight," he whispered. I nodded, then followed Hermione back up the stairs.

"This is your family, back home?" Hermione asked as I arrived back at the door. She was holding up the fake family. "You have another brother, right?"

"Yeah. His name is Matthew. He isn't a very good person," I winced a bit at the reminder of my other younger brother (he had been fifteen, whilst I was sixteen). "Unfortunately, the two of us haven't seen eye-to-eye in years. I was always the better student, but he was always a more...honest friend. To anyone who would listen."

"Ah. I understand," Hermione nodded. She gave a small laugh. "He's cute."  
"David's cuter," I said immediately. Hermione laughed again. 

"You're lucky, you've got brothers," she smiled.  
"Nah," I shook my head. "_You're_ lucky, you've got a great pair of parents and no brothers to hassle you."  
"It's not always so easy to be alone."  
"You can say _that _again," I sighed and fell back on my bed. "I remember a really long period of time where I had no friends and my brothers had disowned me and my parents seemed to be ignoring me. I know that feeling.

"But remember, there is always a treasure close by, a treasure untold. A treasure of life and a treasure to live and a treasure to give."

Hermione smiled and nodded once.

***

"We're home!" Sam had slammed the door behind her in light of the rain, which had begun to fall only moments ago.

"Welcome home!" I answered her as Hermione and I finished coming downstairs. Her arms were carrying huge bags of McDonalds.

"We won't have time to pack up again in the morning, so make certain you have everything tonight," Sam told the three of us sternly. We would be leaving the next morning for King's Cross again, not to return for a long time. My heart gave a flutter of anticipation; the Hogwarts Express, for real this time! I wondered who we would meet first. 

Ron Weasley? With his red hair and hand-me-down robes and wand and all? Fred and George, his twin older brothers? I'd even settle for Percy, as terrible as that sounds. Or maybe we would meet the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, if they'd found a replacement yet, though I doubted it.

Or maybe some Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws? It would be interesting to meet Cho or Cedric. Or maybe Neville Longbottom, and would he be fat, like the books, or only chubby, like I'd been?

Would we meet someone new? 

I could go on forever!

The only person I really wanted to meet, however, was our wonderful star. The boy who had bedazzled the nation of England, the whole world of witches and wizards, simply because he was protected by the love of his beautiful mother Lily. The boy who could simply be called by his rightful name, which was, of course, Harry Potter.

As I was packing everything up, Hermione and I were stowing away the books we wanted to keep, doing simple spells and charms we had learned. David was frantically trying to learn a spell I had told him about, which changed objects different colors. I think he was trying to help out Ron if he happened to meet him. 

"Hey, Angel, how did the wand movement go again?" David asked.

I sighed. "Like this." I gently brought the wand in one arc, then two, then flicked it at a nearby lamp. "_Azula_!" The lamp changed to blue. "And keep in mind the color you want it." I returned the lamp to its rightful white ("_Blanca_!").

"Okay," he nodded, taking a deep breath. I finished packing up my things, including a large amount of underwear (oh, thanks a lot, Aeolus), and sat on my bed. 

"Hey, Angel, are you finished?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I am."  
"Have any more room?"

"You have more books?"  
"Yeah," she nodded sheepishly. "Just two. Think they can fit?" She held up two books of fairly moderate size and I nodded. 

"Well, I'm ready," I smiled. "David?"

"Yeah. I'll pack away my books later, I'm going to read up on a few more spells."  
"David, you've got to go to bed," I glared at him sternly. _Besides,_ I added_, we still need to talk about what we're going to do. Quirrell dying was no accident._

***

After everyone else had gone to sleep (it was seven-thirty), I entered David's room, where he was reading another spell.

"Babe, this isn't good," I sighed, sinking on his bed.   
"Definitely. Who would kill Quirrell, though? Unless they knew Lord Voldemort was sharing bodies with him," he frowned, staring at Keiko. I was still a little afraid of her, because I'd never seen a real owl before. "But how, unless they knew what we did?"

"I dunno, babe," I answered. "I don't think there would be anyone else who knows what we do...but I do think its possible someone knew Quirrell was helping Voldemort."

"Yeah, that seems more likely."

I toyed with the dark blue sheets on his bed, thinking. Who _would_ know? Snape had obviously known later on in the story, but how early did he know at all? Or even suspect? Those questions shot around my head. 

There were still more possibilities. 

Too many more.

"Let's wait a while. We're leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow," David said grimly. 

"I agree," I nodded slowly. "There isn't much we can do right now, anyway."

"Right. Well," he yawned, putting his Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 in his trunk and shutting it. "Good night. Maybe we'll get more answers tomorrow night."  
"Maybe...good night."

With that, I left his room and dropped into my bed, clothes on. I was asleep before I hit the pillow.

**********************************************************************

David really wants to impress Harry and Ron, but it's up to me to do all the work. Yes, that really is the way it is. It's a surprise first encounter for the both of us! Neither of us really expected to meet this guy!

You'll start seeing some startups to a small conflict, too. All part of the plot!

Ja ne!


	4. Hogwarts Express

You guys'll have to excuse my straight-forwardness on this particular story. David gets impatient and I have to type fast and read while I'm doing it. Even so, I usually only get about three to four pages done. 

Anyway, sorry about that, I'm whining a little. Well, if you hadn't quite caught on, David and Angel were supposed to have ridden the train to get to King's Cross, where Hermione and her family would pick them up. You and I know that ain't so! Here we go, on the Hogwarts Express for real this time. Dee wants to thank everyone for being so supportive on his first attempt at "writing". (--If you guys also haven't caught on, David can't read or write, so what's actually going on is I'm typing it while Dee's talkin' about it and planning. He's pretty good--even got me to do some background research on Aeolus for him)

Anyway, I'm jammering. 

Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter at all, nor do we own Aeolus, the god of wind in Greek mythology.

***

Chapter 4: Hogwarts Express

Sam had been right; as soon as we were up, we ate breakfast and shoved the three trunks and Keiko into the car and were off. All within half an hour. Even with all that rushing, we were still running slightly behind in getting to King's Cross. Sam had wanted to give us a good fifteen to twenty minutes to get on board. We had ten. 

Never in my life had I seen such traffic in one place before. Even Washington D.C. at the Fourth of July wasn't this busy.

"How did you guys get to the platform?" Sam asked. "Your tickets say 'Platform Nine and Three-Quarters'."

"We go through the wall," I answered nonchalantly. "Isn't that right, Angel?"

"Yeah, we go through the wall," Angel smiled. Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement, but Sam and Ken were looking at us as though we had all gone mental.  
"Th-through the wall?" Ken stuttered. "Isn't that-"  
"No, the pillar is kind of like a portal," Angel explained. "It'll take us to another place, more remote, where we can start off on the Hogwarts Express."  
"I'll write as often as I can, Mum," Hermione told her as they stood a bit away from us, having one last family hug and such. "See you soon."  
"And you, Hermione."

Angel looked a bit uncomfortable, and I knew why. Not only was she afraid of the dark, she was afraid of being touched. Angel is not the best person to scare by tapping her on the shoulder. My jaw still hurts from the last time I made that mistake.

Just as Angel had feared, Sam gave us each a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. Angel was polite and smiled, but I could see she had stiffened substantially.

"We'll see you soon, kids," Sam smiled. "Good bye!" They turned back toward their car and I led the way to platforms 9 and 10. 

"No one's watching," Angel whispered. "Go, babe!" I took off at a leisurely run, enough to be quick, but not fast enough to catch any of the surrounding Muggles' eyes. Pushing the cart, which carried Keiko and my trunk (considerably lighter than either Angel's or Hermione's), I made my way toward the large train.

Never in my life had I seen such a sight. The Hogwarts Express was extremely long, as was the platform on which it was loaded. It had to be at least a mile either way. The movie had not done this beautiful locomotive justice. Apparently, Angel and Hermione agreed with me, because they stopped and stared too.

"Let's see if we can't get the caboose," I suggested. "It looks like most of the ones in front are full up." Of course, what I really wanted was to find Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. I wanted to turn that yellow-bellied bit of mouse dung his rightful shade. I had spent the ride here perfecting the spell. (I am talking about Scabbers, Ron's rat, if you were wondering)

I think Angel knew what my motives were, but I also knew she had some of her own. I think in the course of reading Harry Potter's tale to me, she had come to love the little trio and would do _anything_ to see them together.

When we reached the foot of the train, we climbed aboard. I was slightly disappointed to see that the two boys were no where in sight. Hermione and Angel loaded their trunks anyway and helped me with mine too.   
"Wait until the train starts moving," Angel told me in a hushed voice. "Things may get out of hand. I nodded, silently agreeing with her. The train started off, not leaving a single soul behind.

Keiko gave a twitter of appreciation as I gave her a small amount of water. I had brought a water bottle for each of us, and I think Angel and Hermione were grateful.

The first person we met was not Harry nor Ron nor even Malfoy. It was Neville Longbottom. Almost at once, Angel asked him if he would sit down with her and Hermione. I wondered why and decided to ask later. Probably something that happened in the fourth book that we obviously hadn't talked about yet. 

I headed out into the hall and up the main passage, opening compartments along the way. Where were they? Harry and Ron had to be around here somewhere. I felt a cold chill and looked up to see what I was almost certain was Draco Malfoy and his two toadies, Crabbe and Goyle. The description fit, anyway. Malfoy didn't look anything like the movie, though, so I couldn't be sure. 

I passed several others, including a strange-looking boy who used his overhanging hair like a hood, covering his eyes and ears. Even stranger was his eyes; they were a strange shade of green, I'd almost say they were yellow.

After getting to the front of the train without any sign of either Harry or Ron, I almost gave up. The sight of a pair of redheads stopped me short. Was that Fred and George?

"Hey!" I called to them. "What're you guys doing?" When they turned around, I knew at once they had been doing something suspicious. 

"We, ah-"  
"-um-"

"-uh-"  
"We were getting something to eat!" said the one on the left promptly.

"Oh," I was startled by their answer. Was that how twins really acted? "Um...my name's David. Who're you guys?"

"Fred."  
"George."  
"Cool," I smiled. "So, what year are you guys? This is my first year."  
"Second," they answered in unison. The glanced at each other a moment, then back at me.

"Are you one of the new American transfer students?" asked George. 

"Yeah, that's me," I smiled. "My sister, Angel, is the other."  
"I thought you were identical twins," Fred scratched his head.  
"We look alike, but you wouldn't call us identical," I answered. I was kind of stunned by their behavior. They were kind of being direct. Like they really had something to hide. I guess that's what they were always like, though.

"What are you guys hiding?"

"Nothing."  
"Nothing at all."  
"Uh-huh. Sure." I turned around to leave. 

And ran right into an enormous monster. 

***POV***Angel***

After David left, Hermione and I tried to help Neville find his poor toad, Trevor. I hoped this wouldn't be going on all year, with him losing the thing and then us having to help him find it, but I couldn't help but want to help the boy.  
He reminded me a bit of myself, when I was about his age.

Correction: When I had been his age the _first_ time. He left a few minutes later to ask around again. We had already done it twice.

"Excuse me," said a voice. I looked up and saw the first person I'd wanted to see in the first place. "Can I sit with you guys?"  
"Sure, go on ahead," I smiled dazzlingly, at least I hoped I did. He set his enormous trunk and white owl on the floor and put it up as best he could to keep it out of the way.

"I'm sorry to impose, but there weren't any more empty compartments," he gave a wry half-smile.

"Y-You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" Hermione recognized him immediately, of course. 

"So you've heard of me, too," Harry grimaced a bit.

"Don't worry too much," I shrugged, glad Neville had lost his toad. "Being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be, but being a person is what's best to be."

"Where do you get all this?" Hermione gawked at me. 

"I make it up in my head," I shrugged. "I was a writer/artist, back in Kansas. Only thing there was I actually enjoyed doing."

"Excuse me?" another voice, this one so much sweeter, came from the door. "Is this compartment filled? Everywhere else is full."  
"Nope, come right on in," I grinned. A tall boy with red hair entered, carrying his rat in his arms. I glanced at the rat for a moment before gesturing to the seat beside me. These compartments were huge and spacious, able to fit about ten people. I was sure it was somehow bewitched to be that way.

"So, it's true," said a voice I would have loved to sit and listen to all day, despite the slippery malice I sensed behind it. It was a dangerous voice. And the boy behind the voice was dangerously beautiful.  
Oh, boy. If angels sang every time a crush was born, they would be trying to kill me about now. Silvery white blonde hair, silver eyes, and a pale face graced this boy. The movie and the books and every fan fiction I've ever read could never have done this boy justice. He was just too good to be true. 

Which was so true.

I think I'm going to be sick.

I avoided the dream's eyes.

"So, it's true. Hogwarts has a transfer program," he said, twisting his words with a coat of spiced honey. "And has brought an angel to Hogwarts."

My throat contracted, but from want to hear him say more or from the bitter bile rising in my throat, I couldn't tell.

"I will be certain to speak with you again," he said, kneeling down in front of me. The hot flush on my face told all. I think. Ah! I'm so confused! 

He left a kiss on the back of my hand and left with a flutter of his Hogwarts school robes. I swallowed hard.

"That was weird."

"I'll say," I muttered, rubbing my hand. 

The rest of the ride, I sat in a daze, oblivious to everyone and everything else, trying to clear my mind of whatever thoughts had invaded it.

***

When we reached Hogsmeade station, I was sure David was still looking for Harry. But it was him who shook me out of my daydream and told me that Hagrid was calling all first years.

It turned out that the plump witch had come and I had missed out on tasting the Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. I had missed my brother managing to turn Scabbers a sickly shade of yellow. I had missed Hermione fixing Harry's glasses. I had missed so much and too much. 

The train ride had been eventful and had left me with too much to brood on. I left the Hogwarts Express for the dirt path, slipping and sliding in the mud, feeling as though rocks were tumbling around in my chest and head.

************************************************************************

I missed everything! WAAAAHHHHHH!!! Well, gave me plenty of time to think on Draco's little motion. In case none of ya'll have figured it out, little Draco has a crush on me. Heh. Kinda weird, ya ask me. I really think Miss Rowling is a good writer, but since she writes in second person, from Harry's point of view, Draco doesn't appear all that good of a person. I know, I know, no one who's come out of Slytherin ever became a good wizard, but STILL! They ARE human, and I wanna make it that way.

So Draco's found a little something to take him away from being that little snot-nosed brat in the books.

And plus, I don't think the movies did him any justice. Just because he's fairly a bad boy don't mean he's not good-looking! After all, "a good girl can change a bad boy forever", as quoted from _Mars_.

A cute little joke is coming up next chapter, and I hope everyone finds it funny! Hint: The Hat says it to Angel while she's being Sorted! Plus, something almost goes wrong! Find out soon on _Winds of Aeolus_!


	5. Our First Night

I am SOOOOO happy with the response to this story! And I'm glad you all like my little plot twist. Guess what? It's gonna get worse! Thanks to everyone who has kept up with this story, and THANK YOU, TELEX, for being my best bud! Dee is so happy! And thank you, Ms. B-----! David is so excited about this story and he is very proud of the very intricate plotline he has come up with. (This is the first time I actually did prerequisite research on a story!)

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not us. All characters associated with Harry Potter also belong to Miss Rowling.

Chapter 5: Our First Night

Hagrid had immediately found Harry, as was expected, and was introduced to myself, David, Hermione, and Ron. We headed for the lake, something David hadn't expected. I don't think he recalled the first movie very well. David, unlike myself, did not have very clear memory. 

"Wonderful man, Dumbledore," I said as we walked along. I would have fallen had David not been there. "Starting this program, allowing David and me to be the first to test it, and everything. He's famous over in America, too, but to actually get to _see_ him and such..." I wasn't lying, either. Dumbledore was one man I held in very high esteem. 

"On'y four to a boat!" Hagrid called to the first years as we reached the lake.

I lost sight of David, and ended up in a boat with Hermione, Neville, and another girl I didn't know. 

"Good evening," said the girl with a polite bow. I smiled and greeted her back, mentally placing her in Ravenclaw.

What if I ended up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw? Or worse, Slytherin? That would mean I'd get to see the dream every day, but...  
Whoa! Wait a second! Malfoy plus dream does NOT compute!

I was certain David would end up in Griffindor. He was brave and strong-willed, and smart, but not totally intelligent.

But me? I guess I did let you know about my period of "disownment", right? You know _how_ that happened? Before then, I liked to beat people. Not beat them _up_, per say, but beat them at their own games. By the time I'd reached sixth grade, it was an obsession.

I _had _to win. At everything. _Had_ to.  
It was just after spring break that I received a challenge. It was from the biggest kid in school. A real bully.

"Beat me up, keep your rep. I beat you up...bye-bye, birdy," he'd said to me. I think he hadn't totally gotten my story straight, but I accepted anyway.

All the "friends" I'd had until then were shallow people wanting my grades and my reputation, and got the next best thing in their minds.

When I lost that day, though, I lost everything. _Everything_. My brothers thought I was a total jerk to even try to beat the guy. My parents were disappointed that I'd gotten into a fight, even though we'd fought it off school grounds, so I didn't get into trouble. My teachers were even more disappointed.

Whatever "friends" I'd had became my worst nightmares.

That was reason enough for me to believe I had a small, ever-so-tiny chance for the Sorting Hat to place me in the one House I despised with all my heart. Actually, to tell the truth, I could go anywhere. Any one of the Houses could accept me as who I was.

But still, the thought of what my brother would say...what _Hermione_ would say...

We arrived at the other side of the lake and were met by none other than Professor McGonagall. I was surprised to see that she looked as though she hadn't had any sleep. Apparently the loss of Quirrell was greater than I'd imagined.

"Good evening..."

She went through her speech as though nothing had happened, informing us of the Houses and their purpose, the addition/reduction of points, and how we would be placed in whichever one. McGonagall left us, but not long enough for much to happen, as she returned only seconds later. 

I heard the Hat sing, and heard Dumbledore's announcements, but didn't really pay attention. A pair of silver eyes rested on my face, urging me to turn my eyes. With a twitch of my neck, his eyes met mine. Malfoy studied me patiently, his dreamy eyes raving over me in my school robes as though I was the sweetest candy in Honeydukes.

I gulped hard and averted my eyes. Rocks continued to tumble around in my mind and my chest felt as though it were going to burst with how fast my heart beat.

Wouldn't you know it? Of every person whose name or face I knew before McGonagall said them, I was the first to be called up onto the stool. Just my luck. The dream's eyes never left me, even as I sat down timidly, feeling like a tiny mouse under the watchful eyes of the Great Hall. 

Shaking, I gulped hard again. Malfoy made a point of meeting my eyes as the Hat covered them. I think he was doing it on purpose, knowing the effect that it had on me.

"Difficult, I'd say," said the Hat. "I see you've got a love to be in Slytherin."  
"He's _not_ my love!" I snapped hotly. Oh, why couldn't I keep my big mouth shut?! The entire Hall let out a laughter that reverberated inside my head worse than ever before. My face flushed the darkest of brick red.

"Temper, too," chuckled the Hat, too. "Very cunning, yes, but very jovial as well. A lover of books, too, so few of those here. Different dimension? Oh, my, what a clever mind, so many passages and bottles...an interesting mind, very interesting. So many corridors...

"Well, mustn't dally. You hold your brother in high regard. Seem to be firm about him being in Griffindor...all right, all right, I've made my mind about him already, but you...

"But you, I'd say Slytherin. You'd be so great..."  
"No," I whispered to myself, eyes wide in the darkness of the Hat.

"A no? Are you sure? A crush that could certainly grow well, and you still say no? Very well. You could have been great, you know. GRIFFINDOR!"

I gave a slight sigh of relief and slunk over like a pup to Fred and George and Percy's end of the Griffindor table.

My God...George and Fred were even cuter in real life.

Dang it, Aeolus! Did you forget to get rid of teenage hormones or something?!

"Who did the Hat say was your love?" asked Fred. Don't ask how I knew it was him.

"Oh, puh-lease," I rolled my eyes. "At least wait until the feast starts."

They took that as a promise and waited patiently. It was my brother's turn. The Hat didn't even touch his head when it said, very plainly, "GRIFFINDOR!"

"What was the Hat _talking_ about?"

"Not you, too," I moaned.

Hermione was next.

"What happened?"  
Harry followed, to many excited whispers. I saw the dream whisper, too.

"What did it mean by 'another almost'?"

Ron.

"What idiot taught that hat how to judge character?"

I silently agreed.

Dumbledore was the same as the three-legged stool left. He made the same announcements.

"We will give a short toast to our deceased Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and hope that we get a new one soon," Dumbledore said humbly as the glasses were filled with pumpkin juice. The Hall raised their goblets as one and said together:  
"To Professor Quirrell."

The pumpkin juice was horrible. 

"As one last announcement, I ask everyone to please be sure to welcome our American guests, Angel and David Galis."

I went red again as curious heads turned.

The dream stared at me again, then turned to his two cronies. Both stared, then nodded solemnly to Malfoy.

I tried to ignore them and the Slytherins.

"So what happened?" asked what I guessed was Dean Thomas. All the new Griffindors and old leaned in to hear.

"I met a Slytherin on the train," I said offhandedly. "He seemed nice. The Hat was mistaken in it's assumption that he was my boyfriend or some such rubbish. I don't even know the idiot." Which, probably, was the only thing I could say truthfully.

The English food before me soon was soon afraid. Sarah Galis was an eater, especially when there was lots of food to be devoured.

When the feast ended, I could still feel Malfoy's eyes watching me, even as our prefect (none other than Percy Weasley) led the way to the Griffindor Common Room. Once inside, Hermione and I said good night to the boys.

"Night, sis," David kissed me on the cheek. "See you in class."  
"Yeah."  
I hadn't even looked around yet; I was too tired. As soon as I was in my pajamas, I had collapsed on my four-poster, closed the curtains, and had fallen fast asleep.

***

So, whatcha think? Cool? Malfoy's WEIRD. This was all his idea! *Points madly at David* He's nuts! He thinks Malfoy would like me! -_-; He's smart, but lacks common sense. Just like dear old sista.

Well, the next chapter is called 'Tuesday Class'. It furthers the conflict between myself and David, a conflict that really goes on in real life, too. Unfortunately. Ja ne


	6. Tuesday Class

I know it hasn't been all that long, but I had to upload this one. The conflict deepens between Angel and David, and we discover something more about Angel's past. (Hey, guess what's weird about this? This is the actual me! Well, with the few tweaks Aeolus did to the both of us, of course. Yeah, I really did try and beat up a guy.)

David's personality has been aged a little, courtesy of my imagination and his thoughts of what he'll be like. Well, here it is: _Tuesday Class!_

Disclaimer: All copyrights and affiliates pertaining to Harry Potter are the products of J. K. Rowling and her printing companies. Anything you recognize from the series is not mine. Aeolus was a Greek god, so therefore, he is also not mine. However, his personality and reasoning are solely David's and a little of mine. OURS, I TELL YOU! Heh heh, read on.

Chapter 6: Tuesday Class

"David! Wake up, we're gonna be late!" Ron shook me and I glared at him a moment before leaping up to get dressed. I noticed that it was only him and Harry and me left in the room. Dean, Seamus, and Neville had gone.

The first class on our schedule was McGonagall's. Transfiguration, with the Ravenclaws.

Instead of going to sleep last night, like smart people, the five of us boys had stayed awake and talked. I learned more from them that night than any of the sessions in which my sister would read to me.

On top of things like favorite colors and parents and parts of the world, I also learned something else. They were people, each of them, with a different story to tell. Just because this was the Harry Potter world, I realized, didn't mean that the whole world revolved around Harry. In fact, aside from the occasional stare at the neat, three-angled lightning bolt on his forehead, Harry was just the average guy. A lot like me, actually.

My sister, of course, had long ago realized this. She said that, to her, the characters in books and in fan fiction were real people, even without having to meet them in person. She said it was like a pen pal or e-pal.

Up till now, to me, they had been characters in a book, characters who had horrible scenes and great scenes and funny scenes. But now...we were all people on a journey to learn all that we could in the same walk of life.

Running toward Transfiguration, I knew I felt everything. These were _people_, people I could talk to, be late to class with, make excuses for late homework, befriend, hurt, be hurt by, make laugh, or joke around.

The bell rang. We burst into the classroom, and saw no sign of Professor McGonagall. Angel and Hermione were both seated at the head of the class.  
Angel was taking notes from the book. She always did that. It was the same thing, every year, from what I'd gathered from her friends. Read the textbook, take notes on the current chapter, notes on the teacher's lecture. There was one major difference I had ever seen between her and Hermione when it came to class.

Angel _never _answered a single question. She would sit in her seat, taking notes, the answer on her paper before anyone could say it, but she never answered aloud. 

As I made my way to the nearest empty table, I saw a cat on the desk. I sat down as quick as I could, hoping she hadn't seen. It was in vain. 

McGonagall appeared, looming over me, Harry, and Ron. Suddenly, I wished I hadn't sat down.

"Brilliant, Professor," Ron tried to sweet-talk her.

"I'm glad you think so, Mr. Weasley," she said sternly, not sounding glad at all. "Sit down." She said it a bit to sharply, scaring Harry and Ron into their seats like quivering little mice.

"As I was saying," she said. "Transfiguration is a very difficult subject, one few wizards master in totality. It is very advanced magic to be able to transfigure yourself, as I have just demonstrated in my Animagus form.

"We will begin with simple things. There is a separate spell for each physical attribute of an object. Color, shape, and smell, for example. Today, we will be attempting to change a match into a needle. In order to first change it's shape..."  
I did not take any notes at all on her lecture. After all, I'd never needed them before, why start now? Harry and Ron had notes, but very vague ones. Things that would probably only jog their memories. Or maybe they just wanted to seem to be listening.

When it was time to change my match into a needle, my mind was blank. How was I supposed to do this again?

I opened my book and started reading.

__

The shape of objects is often made by tapping it, and imagining precisely the way you need the object shaped. Forget in totality the original shape of the object whilst you look at it...

How was I supposed to forget what the match looked like in order to make it into a needle?

I touched my wand to the match. Was that end sharper? Only a little.

I decided to go for color, an attribute I had mastered already.

"_Argentina_!"

At least it was a silver match now.

I continued tapping it. By the end of class, I'd gotten the little thread hole in place and a rather dull point, but at least it _looked_ like a stone-age needle.

My sister and Hermione, however...

"Indeed, two marvelous sewing needles. Five points each to Griffindor!" McGonagall gave them her rare full smile. 

The bell gave its rang. 

I grimaced at the very sound of the next class. How could I ever manage to stay awake in the History of Magic class, with the ghost teacher, Binns, droning on and on and on?

Tired as I was, I was a bit shocked at how quickly Professor Binns jumped into the lesson. As soon as the bell rang for students to be in class, he started in on his droning speech.

Hermione and Angel were both hard at work, taking notes, but the rest of the class melted into a stupor within ten minutes. Obviously, this class was not going to be fun at all. About the equivalent of history in my sister's eyes. She had always hated history, in any kind. Said that the past should be left to the historians and archaeologists and the ones who wanted to learn from past mistakes, like Pearl Harbor and such.

My brother and I had been very into history, actually, especially World War Two. I can still name off nearly every plane that reigned in that time frame. Especially the ones that attacked Pearl Harbor, Hirashima, and Germany.

Let's just leave it at this; the only people who will get any kind of good marks in History of Magic were two people. Obviously, Angel and Hermione.

The third thing that day was lunch. After lunch, we had two more classes, but I'll get to those later.

"I can't believe you were late this morning," Angel scolded me when she sat down opposite me. "It was at _nine o'clock_. How many times have I told you that?"

__

Too many. "I don't know. I'm sorry, okay?"  
"It's no wonder you couldn't read before," she muttered under her breath. She didn't mean for me to hear, but I did.

"It's not like it was my fault..."  
"I know that, I'm sorry," she held her head a moment. "I'm sorry, babe, I don't know what's come over me lately."  
"It's all right," I smiled, but I think she knew it wasn't in my heart.

"We've got a free class next," Angel said, smiling. "We can explore the castle a bit, at least that way we won't get lost. We don't have any homework yet, except maybe to study Dark Arts."  
"Yeah. I can always do that later."

Angel looked stern a moment, but dropped it.   
"I know!" she said excitedly. "Let's go see Hagrid!"  
"Yeah, that'd be nice," I smiled. "Let's ask Harry and Ron along."  
"And Hermione."

"Okay, yeah."

So, having finished with our lunch, the five of us walked down to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. I was surprised to see how small the hut was, even for a person like me to live in, let alone the enormous Hagrid. 

"Good morning!" Hagrid smiled as he saw us. "I was gonna ask you to come down for tea on Friday, Harry, I didn't expect you to come down on yer own."  
"Neither did I," Harry shrugged with a smile.

"Angel suggested it," I said, glancing at her.   
"Angel, eh?" Hagrid smiled a bit. "Americans sure know how to name their kids."  
Angel blushed again. I wondered if that was bad for her at all, to blush to much, I mean.

"Actually, it's a nickname," I put in. "Her real name's Sarah, but-"  
"-but my mom let me change my name legally to Angel," she interrupted, giving me another stern glare. I cursed my slippery tongue. "David, can I speak with you _outside_ a moment?" I felt very much like a puppy as I followed her out the door. 

"Babe, I know you're new at this secret thing, but you've got to keep this tight," Angel whispered fiercely. "You have no idea what will happen if word gets out about-"  
"If word gets out about what?" asked the last voice I wanted to hear. 

"H-Hello," Angel stammered. 

"It appears the angel can speak," said the snake-tongued serpent. Draco Malfoy stood before my sister and me, alone, for once. "And such a musical one at that."  
"Malfoy!" Harry growled from the doorway, stomping toward us.

"Hello, Potter. I see you did not heed my advice. Still with Weasley and the Muggle," he said. 

"Make that _three_ Muggles," I exclaimed sharply. "My sister and I are _both_ Muggle-born." I could see, very plainly, that his voice was effecting Angel strangely. It was as if he had placed a very strong spell on her.  
"Ah," said Malfoy. "There are always exceptions." He turned and marched across the lawn, and I say good riddance.  
"Don't tell me _that's _the Slytherin that 'seemed nice' on the train?" I asked incredulously. No wonder she had been so weird lately.

"Unfortunately," she muttered.

The last class of the day was thankfully cancelled. It had been Potions, with the Slytherins. Fortunately, something had exploded in the dungeons in which Snape usually taught and our class then was cancelled, too.

I went to sleep that night early, hoping I would be up early so I could get to the first class the next morning. Unfortunately for me and every other first year in Griffindor, that class was Potions too.

***

Cut off a day before the Potions class? I don't think so! I'm uploading the next chapter! Oh, and the climax of the conflict is reached in this chapter, too.


	7. The Inevitable

Like I said, the next chapter. A fight, a little chat with Malfoy, and a dash of intelligent thinking. You've really gotta read between the lines, everyone!

Chapter 7: The Inevitable

Six o'clock sharp the next morning, I awoke to the sounds of twittering birds outside the open window. The autumn air was cool and fresh, but in no way cold. I was beginning to love Hogwarts already, even more than I had before. 

"Good morning," I smiled to no one in particular. Lucky enough for me, no one else in the room had a pet, so there were no other sounds besides the birds outside. It had not been so at home. Our pets were great, both in number and diversity. It got kind of tiring to always hear at least one animal voice every second of every day, though. 

"No pet birds," I said to myself, getting dressed at a leisurely pace. "No cats. No dogs. No rodents. No chickens. Not even any owls or toads. This place is great."

Then, with a deep sinking feeling, I remembered what my first class of the day was. The ax was raised, the neck of happiness poised, ready. With a slice, my good mood was destroyed. 

Potions. Snape. Malfoy. 

Ugh.

Once dressed, I opened the curtains of my bed and saw that Hermione was up, too. 

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" I asked her. Yesterday, she had joined me at the table downstairs after about half an hour, where I had been reading the book she had finished. Of course, that book was _Hogwarts, A History_. I learned more and more about my new school with each page I turned.

"Yes, but I was planning on it anyway," she smiled. "I set a charm to wake me up at ten till five, but I went back to sleep."  
"Oh. Why?"

"I wanted to come downstairs with you today," she smiled, packing up her schoolbag with the things she would need in Potions and Charms, our second class. With a nod, I silently started putting together my things, as well.

"It's too bad about Professor Quirrell," I said casually. I hoped to get her opinion on the matter. "I heard he was a good teacher."  
"Really?" she slung her bag over her right shoulder. "I heard he was a terrible coward. Of course, that's only what I've been told by the students. I wouldn't know."  
"I noticed that Professor McGonagall had taken it pretty hard," I winced at the memory. Just thinking about her face sent a chill of pity down my spine. "She looked pretty sad to me."  
"Yeah...I remember her back at Diagon Alley, I suppose you're right."

"Well, we'd best get downstairs for breakfast. We can read some more there," I cocked my head to the side and grinned. 

***

When my brother came downstairs at eight fifteen, groggy and grumpy, I patted him on the back with a grin.  
"Great job, babe," I told him. "Now you won't chance being late."

"Yeah, yeah," he murmured. "Why'd I even agree to this?"  
"Hey, you wanted to come just as much as I did, baby. And you'd be waking up much earlier had we remained, if you can't recall," I preached. I knew I was preaching, I sounded a lot like our Bishop, but I can tell you that he wasn't happy.

"Just because I wanted to come does not mean this was all the best idea!"

"What do you mean? Aeolus gave us permission-"  
"I don't care what Aeolus said!"

"David-"  
"I'm going back to bed," he got up to go.  
"David, we've got half an hour before class starts and you haven't eaten any-"  
He slammed his palms on the table on either side of my plate, eyes ablaze. David was scarier than I'd ever seen him before.

"You are not my mother. Stop trying to be."

With that, he stomped out of the room, all eyes following his retreating back. None more intensely than mine. I had worse problems than my brother being a baby again, though. The next person through the door was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"I suppose brothers can be awful at times," I heard him say to the other Slytherins. He was looking straight at me the whole time. Silently, I perfectly agreed with him.

"Angel, are you all right?" Hermione asked apprehensively. "Do you think David is?"

"He's just being a little baby again," I answered, turning back to my book. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Hermione."

She only nodded.

***

At precisely eight forty-five, Hermione and I headed toward Potions. Ron and Harry had obviously heard all about the fight between David and I, because they were ignoring us both. The three of them sat in the farthest corner of the back of the room. Hermione and I were front row, center.

Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten one slight thing about Potions. Griffindor and Slytherin took this class together.

"Brilliant, little angel," said the dream. He slid into the seat beside me, his cronies sinking on the end. My face flushed pink and I attempted to keep myself in order.

"What?" I asked stiffly. 

He merely smiled. Oh, how much I wanted him to smile again. With a jerk of my head, I remembered where I was. Sure enough, it was only a second later that Snape burst into the dungeon, his black hair and robes flowing behind him.  
"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations..."  
He began his speech. I studied him closely, taking in the fact that he looked a lot like my father. A really pale, black-haired version of him, anyway. He had the same kind of large, beaky nose; the small, slit-like eyes whose color were indefinable; the furrowed brow and defined eyebrows; the only difference was his hair.   
Let's just put it this way: Snape should _really_ wash his hair more often.

"...new celebrity..."

I only caught whispers of his conversation with Harry. He seemed totally focused on embarrassing him. Hermione continuously raised her hand, wanting to answer. I merely wrote the answers down that I heard, waiting for him to say another noteworthy thing.

Paying more attention than even myself or Hermione was Draco Malfoy. He seemed determined to please Snape, something I had really never thought about. If you think about it, Rowling's books only concentrated on his evil and malicious attributes, like his hate for Harry and being spoiled by his father.

What about his grades, though? Although Malfoy was one of the main "bad guys" in the books, his character was never fully explained. To us, he was supposed to be just a two dimensional character, one full of hate and anger. However, I think there may, just _may_, mind you, be a person in there. Maybe even a nice person, as far-fetched as that may seem.

"So, you're a Muggle-born," whispered Malfoy. 

"Yes."  
"I suppose it is one of the inevitable, then," he sighed and sank back in his chair, coming back up to write something else.  
"What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously, also taking note. "It's not as though it matters."  
"I should think you are ignorant. No one as beautiful could be stupid."

I blushed, "I'm not beautiful."  
He frowned delicately. No frown belonged on that face.

"You believe that?"

"Yes."  
He was silent.

Now he had me thinking. I had never been a very pretty girl. Whenever someone told me I had something special, I knew it was my ability to see things for what they were, in art, and not for my physical beauty. 

"You are too beautiful."

Now he was confusing me. I hated being confused. More than anything else in the world, I hated being confused. It had happened too much, too often. I guess Malfoy was right. It was the inevitable.

***

Now, I know there have only been a few people reading this, but if you are and just haven't been reviewing, please leave a short notice. If you're signed in, I'll check out your stories, too! I love doing that...Oh, well. 

David says: "Thanks, everybody! This is really cool."  
I say the same. You guys are wonderful to myself and my little brother. Thanks!


	8. It's Not Halloween!

I think this is a great chapter, in which the conflict is resolved in _David's_ heart, at least. I'm still mad at him, obviously. I've got two surprises this chapter! Read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any affiliated characters of Harry Potter. 

***

Chapter 8: It's Not Halloween!

From the back of the room, where Snape seemed to be patrolling for any false moves from Harry, he neglected to see two people talking. Two people who should be mortal enemies.

My sister and Draco Malfoy. 

Taking notes was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Trying to write down things that Snape was saying while he was saying them was an extremely difficult task. So much that my mind started to wander from the lesson, which was a prerequisite to our first potion, the one I had conveniently forgotten the name of.

"Galis!" Snape said sharply, looking directly at me. "What are you doing?"

"I-I-I'm taking notes, sir," I answered, trying to keep my cool.

"I would suggest you learn a better method," sneered Snape coldly. "Word-for-word notes are hardly worth the effort." I caught sight of Angel rolling her eyes.  
"I will try, sir," I confirmed to him, my face pink as the class laughed at my trial. So I'd never taken notes before, so what?

"See that you do," he moved on, to my great relief.

"Galis!" I looked up again, but saw he was addressing my sister. I grumbled under my breath as I watched her. 

"Yes, sir?" she asked. Her voice was trembling. I could tell she was scared. Literally frightened of him.

"You seem to be taking better notes than your brother. Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?"

"A sleeping potion so strong it's called the Draught of Living Death," Angel answered promptly. It was one of the questions Harry had been asked at the beginning of the class, something Angel would know right off the top of her head.

Of course, I had never really paid attention to the little details. She had.

"Good, very good," he said, moving away. "Five points to Griffindor."

Wait a second. Had _Snape_ just _given **Griffindor** points_? Apparently, he had.

"That's a first," Ron whispered in shock.

"Favorite," I muttered and packed up my things as the bell rang.

"Read pages two through fifteen and write a summary of those pages and our lesson today," Snape announced. Goody, our first bit of homework for the year. 

Charms was the next class. 

The moment we entered the class, I knew I was going to have major problems. We had the class with the Hufflepuffs, but Flitwick, a short, oglop-like man, gave us a seating chart the moment we were on his threshold. 

And on the front row? Guess who.

In the following order: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Angel, me. Of course, the first lesson? Levitation of feathers.

"Remember this, babe?" Angel smirked. The familiar scene between Hermione and Ron played out, with input from Angel now.  
"Stop, stop, stop!" both girls said at once.

"You're going to put someone's eye out," Hermione told Ron.

"You might blow something up," Angel added, not being helpful at all. 

"You're saying it wrong. It's _Levi-**o**-sa_, not _Levi-o-**sa**_," Hermione put in.

"And you swish and flick, not triple-swish, break-the-wand," Angel said, hiding a smile.

"Then you two do it, go ahead," Ron growled, throwing his wand down. 

"Yeah, Angel, let's see you do it," I told her. "It's not like-"  
"_Windgardium Leviosa_!" both girls swished and flicked their wands as though in perfect sync. Both white feathers fluttered into the air.

"Oh, look, everyone, Miss Granger and Miss Galis have done it!" Flitwick cried. Ron and I sank to our tabletops, exchanging a dark look.

"She's a nightmare, honestly!" Ron was yelling as we made our way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"They both are," I growled darkly, forgetting totally the books and the movie. I didn't care. My sister had no right to do that to Ron. Regardless of who she though she was. "She thinks she's my mother, just because she's older than me."  
"By how much?" Harry asked.  
"About seven...er...seven minutes," I had almost said years. Almost given it away. "Feels more like seven _years_ though, with how different we are."  
"You can say that again, Galis. It's a wonder the two of you are related." 

Malfoy had came across us.  
"Go eat a slug, Malfoy," I snarled, brushing past him. Harry, Ron, and Seamus, who had also been walking with us, gawked at me.

"You would think the wind had simply blown him here," Malfoy said, smirking as he walked away.

Harry and Ron exchanged a startled look.

Herbology was next.

"Have you guys seen Hermione?" Angel asked me immediately upon entering Greenhouse 1. "She said she was going to get her books from Flitwick's and I haven't seen her since!"

"It's not Halloween yet..." I started a little. Was this happening sooner than before? Not that I cared about my "motherly" sister.

"I _know_ it's not Halloween yet," Angel snapped. "I don't care about _that_, kid, I want to know where Hermione is. _Have you seen her_?" Seems like she doesn't care about me, either. Bully for her.

"Is Miss Hermione Granger here?" called Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher.

"Professor!" Angel called to her, completely ignoring us now. "Professor, Hermione's gone missing. May I have permission to go look for her?"

"You'll have to wait, Miss Galis, I'm sorry," Professor Sprout said. "I'll give you a late pass after class so you can look for her before your next class."

Angel was nearly jumping up and down in anticipation for the bell to ring as she waited impatiently. She paid close attention and took her notes, but she was still the first out of her seat when the bell rang and the second out the door after Professor Sprout. 

Angel was gone during Transfiguration, our last class. Hermione must be seriously lost or something. Not that I cared.

When they were gone during dinner, though, that's when I got worried.

"You guys, Angel never misses a meal," I said, keeping my voice clear. "I'm worried."

The door opened with a bang.

"Werewolf! Werewolf in the dungeons!" It was someone I never would have expected to shout like that. It was Snape.

As soon as that was sounded, the entire Great Hall burst into wild clamor to get out.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore stood and told the prefects to lead their Houses to their Common Rooms.

Ron and I ran to the door, but I never made it. Harry caught my collar and held me back.  
"Harry, didn't you hear? A werewolf!"

"I heard," he said, his eyes wide. "But Hermione and Angel don't know!"

"We don't know where they are!"

"I do," Ron had reappeared.  
"Where? Where's my sister, Ron?" I clutched his arm in fear for Angel's life. Suddenly, I was worried. I didn't want Angel to become a werewolf. She may act like she's my mother at times, but she was still my sister.

"In the girl's bathroom around the corner. I saw Angel go in just before Transfiguration. I didn't have time to go get her, though, or I would've been late."  
"Let's go," Harry said, taking off without confirmation.

The three of us took off down the corridor and dove into the bathroom.

"They're not here!" Harry shouted upon entrance. 

"Where could they be?" I danced on the spot, feeling helpless.

"Come on, we've got to get upstairs," Ron said, taking off out the door. The moment we did, we heard a distant, but distinct, howl.

"It's still in the dungeons," I sighed a bit. "Angel wouldn't be stupid enough to be down there. Neither would Hermione."  
"How do you know?" Harry asked anxiously.  
"I stayed with Hermione a week before leaving she's been reading every book she can get her hands on, and so has Angel. They would know the danger. I know Angel well enough, and she's not a very brave or daring person, despite a lot of things. Come on, I know they'll be safe, wherever they are."

With that, we took off for the Common Room.

Not before running head-on into the werewolf only steps away, though.

************************************************************************

Ooooooh, cliffhanger. Dee insisted on this one, sorry guys! The next chapter is called "Loopy Roman Werewolf". Can anyone take a guess who this chapter is based on? Hint: There are two different werewolves and one of them is named after the brother of Rome.


	9. Loopy Roman Werewolf

Well, some persuasion has led me to upload this one early, too. Nobody took a guess who the loopy Roman werewolf was, so you'll just have to find out here. See ya at the end!

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it? 

***

Chapter 9: Loopy Roman Werewolf

After I left Herbology, I searched high and low for Hermione. I tried every bathroom, every empty room, every nook and cranny I could find. Despite the familiarity of the situation, I also knew that this was not occurring because of Quirrell's influence. Quirrell was dead. That meant Voldemort had taken over someone else.

"Hermione..." I moaned, sinking at the of the foot of an empty suit of armor.   
"Trouble, you have found, Miss?" asked the armor. I jumped and scrambled to my feet in surprise. "Look where you are, you find what you miss."  
"What?" I asked, startled. "I don't have time for riddles, I've got to find my friend."  
"Trouble, you have found, miss. Look where you are, find what you miss."

"Fine. I'm looking for a person, how will looking where I am help at all?" I asked it again, getting fed up. I hated riddles, always have. 

"Trouble, you have found, miss. Look where you are, find what you miss." I moved to punch the suit of armor, but missed and hit the wall. A stone I hadn't noticed before pressed in a bit.

"Trouble, you have found, miss. Look where you are, find what you miss," I repeated to myself, seeing what it meant. I hit the stone a few more times, and when it reached about two inches, the armor swung out, revealing a hidden room behind it. 

"Hermione!" I cried happily. I raced into the room.

"Angel, stay back, it's a-"  
The armor swung shut faster than I could react.

"-trap. Well, now you're stuck here, too."  
"I guess this is why I couldn't find you," I shrugged sheepishly.

"Yeah. I think this used to be a fifth Common Room, or something," she pointed around. It looked almost the same as ours, only it was draped in violet. The fire looked as though it hadn't been lit in years, although Hermione had lit it herself.

"But you can't get out from the inside?" I asked her.

"I don't think so. I've tried a lot of things."

"Well, at least it's cozy," I said, smiling a little. 

"At least," she smiled back. "We can wait it out, I guess. I couldn't even hear the armor asking the riddle. I heard you hitting the stone, of course, but that's all."  
"Close to being sound-proof, too," I muttered. "I wonder..."  
"What?"

"Nothing."  
"You can tell me," she said. 

"You wouldn't understand," I told her. "Let's just leave it at that."

"You would do well to tell her," growled a voice. "At least then..."  
"Who's there," I jumped up and turned my wand toward the voice. I saw a man I'd only seen in my imagination. "The loopy Roman werewolf!"

"The what?" Hermione asked incredulously, drawing out her wand. "A werewolf!?"

"Don't worry, sir," I said, keeping my voice steady. "We can help you."  
"You should try to help yourself. The one who bit me is in the dungeons. He's after someone called 'Galis'. Must be Muggle-born."  
"Which one?" I asked fearfully. "Who sent him? Did he send you, too?"  
He gave a dark, barking laugh. "Why would the Dark Lord send me? Romulus locked me up in here...I was trying to get in the way again."

"Again?" Hermione and I asked together.

"The Dark Lord knew that I would be the reason for his downfall. Romulus failed the first time to kill me. All in vain...unless Romulus gets his hands on Angel Galis."  
"He won't," I mumbled, grimly satisfied.  
"How do you know? You have an Inner Eye, like Romulus?"

"Nope. I _am_ Angel Galis."

"Thank God. You'll be safe in here, at least."

"Angel, what is going on? How did you know who he was?"  
"I...I...um..." I looked away. Could I tell her? I didn't want to lose her. I'd already fought with my brother. I hoped he was safe.

So I started back from the beginning. Only two people knew who I was now, besides my brother. That was something.

When I finished, Hermione and Remus Lupin simply stared at me.

"What? It's not that impossible anymore, I suppose."

"The thought that our world is known like that..."

"Yeah, yeah, overwhelming, I know," I sighed tiredly. 

A roar resounded along the stone walls.

"It's Romulus!" Remus' eyes went wide.  
"Wait, how is he in werewolf form? It's a new moon!"

"You'll learn later, right now, let's try to get out of here!" Remus started frantically looking along the wall. "The lock is here."  
"_Alohamora_!" Hermione shouted, and the door flew open. The last person I expected to see was on the other side.

"David!"

"Angel!"

"Not a good time for a happy family reunion," Remus warned us as Romulus, in full wolf form, bared his large, sharp jaws. The wolf leapt into the air, headed straight for me. Hermione, Ron, David, and Harry all shouted at once.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" The wolf flew into the air.

Followed by a Freezing Charm by Remus.

McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Snape found us seconds later.

Confusion ensued.

"What on Earth-"  
"Lupin! I should have-"  
"Professor, we were-"  
"We got locked up-"  
"Armor asked a-"  
"-riddle and-"  
"SILENCE!"

A cricket didn't dare break the curse of quiet in that hall.

"Now," said Dumbledore. "Angel, what happened here?"  
"Well, Hermione disappeared after Charms, but I had to wait through Herbology to go look for her. I came across this armor and it asked me a riddle, and I kind of solved it by accident by punching the wall and it swung open and Hermione was inside.

"It turned out that this werewolf, Romulus, had locked Remus Lupin inside because he was trying to warn me. Hermione and I got trapped inside until we heard Romulus and the boys out here.

"After that, well, I don't really know."  
"We went looking for them, because we were worried that the werewolf might get them," Harry jumped to explain. 

"And we were just about to give up," Ron added.  
"When that werewolf jumped out of no where," David pointed to Romulus.

"Remus, I might ask you why you're here," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eye.

"I found out that Romulus was after Miss Galis, and after all he's done to me, I did not want the same fate to befall another. He's somehow been induced to remain in wolf form. He locked me up in this old Common Room and left me for dead. I don't think he expected two intelligent young ladies to come along who could solve the riddle."

"Very well," Dumbledore nodded.

"Headmaster, surely these actions should be punished?" Snape exclaimed.

"Of course not, Severus," Professor Dumbledore smiled. "And I think we have just found our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

And that, my friends, was how we got Remus Lupin as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the first year. It is also our first clue in the newest of Harry Potter puzzles.

************************************************************************

David's got me convinced to put up the next one, too. Oy vey, I'm gonna be outta my head soon enough. _Girl, Interrupted_, here I come!


	10. Enter Tirui

Okay, I've got to explain a few things about this one. David wanted to make a Final Fantasy IX/Harry Potter fan fiction, but I resisted until now. I see how he wanted to do it, so I agreed. We've got a nice little plot growing in this chapter.

A few things about Final Fantasy IX that you'll need to know (most people haven't played it, so that's why I'm doing this): FFIX is based around a character named Zidane. It's an RPG that is very intimate with its characters, which are based in a fantastical world with monsters and minions and sword battles and magic powers called Black Magic (used by Black Mages-original) and White Magic, used by Summoners.

Zidane is a Genome, a creature created solely to serve Terra in joining with Gaia, the planet on which Zidane accidentally grew up on. He has an older "brother", created before him, named Kuja. Kuja sort of has his own ideas on things, but I'll get around to that later.

Zidane kidnaps the Princess of Alexandria, Garnet, and renames her Dagger. They are followed by Vivi (Tirui in this story, only not quite), a Black Mage; Adelbert Steiner, the Captain of the Knights of Pluto, the guardians of the castle; Freya, a Burmecian (they look a lot like rats, to tell the truth); and several smaller characters.

Zidane finally gets out of his little mess, which involves Kuja trying to kill him before he (Zidane) becomes superior to him (Kuja) and a man named Garland trying to fuse Gaia and Terra together to form one planet. Kuja finally sees the error of his ways in the end and dies with Zidane trying to help him to safety. 

That's where this story takes off, but not quite as you might expect it. This is the core plot of the Winds of Aeolus.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy IX, neither do I own their affiliating characters.

***

Chapter 10: Enter Tirui

I guess there really _are_ few things people can live through and not become friends. Defeating a werewolf was definitely one of them. Needless to say, the six of us (Hermione, Angel, Harry, Ron, Remus, and myself) became friends. Remus allowed us in on several little secrets about Hogwarts that I never had known. 

"Have you guys noticed that we've an empty bed in our dorm?" Ron asked, about a week after the battle with Romulus. "I saw this one weird kid in class yesterday. If I hadn't been looking for him, I wouldn't have seen him."

"I've seen him before," Harry nodded.

"Me, too, in the Common Room," Hermione said.

"I've never seen him before..." I said carefully.

"He's right over there," Harry point at the end of the table. It was the boy I'd seen on the train, the one with hooded hair and yellow-green eyes.

"He looks like Tirui," Angel said, biting into an orange.   
"You're right," I stared closer. The others also stared, with the exception of Angel.

"Would you bakas quit gawking at him?" Angel snapped. "It's rude. If you want, you can go ask him to sit with us."  
***POV, Third Person***

"Yes, my little angel, ask him to eat with you. I'm sure he'd agree. After all, he's only my most dedicated servant, even above Voldemort," smirked a man deep in shadow, whose face we cannot see. "Tommy has certainly gotten his own ideas over the years. The unexpected turns please me.

"Besides, Angel. You're there to destroy him. A special favor of mine. Perhaps Kuja could replace him for me. He's gotten better since our last little adventure with Zidane. I conceived the little Tommy, after all, he should learn his manners before his father. He should have thought twice before biting his master's hand."  
Laughter rang in the black chamber in which our masked villain resided.

"Oh, I so enjoy toying with so many of these people's fates. They are so gullible, it should be written all over their faces."  
"Gullible is as gullible does, Riddle."  
"Riddle is as riddle does, Kuja, my son."  
"Too true."

***POV, First Person***

"Hey, kid, want to come eat with us?" Angel had gotten up, fed up with us completely.

"Um...maybe...I guess...I-I suppose it w-would be all right," he stammered. I couldn't see his face, but from his eyes, I could see he was surprised.

"What's your name?" she asked as he packed up his things. He had long ago finished eating, but he had several large books opened in front of him. This included a spiral notebook, which he'd been writing in with a normal pencil.

"Tirui Dark," he answered. "I was a son of one of the Dark Lord's followers, but I reformed under Dumbledore. I've lived with my grandfather until now."  
"Good for you, Mr. Tirui!" Angel cheered. "Wow, what is your grandfather like?"

"H-he died," Tirui answered, and his head ducked. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," Angel said quickly. "I didn't know."  
"It's all right."

Tirui seemed to be nice. His name, and his story, however, did not quite sit well with me. It was too much of a coincidence.

Just before Angel and I had left our dimension, Angel had just completed her very first RPG. She was very much in love with the characters in it, but none more than Tirui, an original name she'd given him herself. That game had been Final Fantasy IX, and I will probably get around to explaining it more in detail later.

In the game, there had been a black mage by the name of Tirui (his original name had been Vivi). Tirui was created from some kind of evil Mist, but never knew it. His "grandfather", a Qu, had caught him in an airship while fishing. The Qu had been considering eating him, but raised him as his grandson instead. The Qu died only a few years before the game timeline had begun.

It was simply too much of a coincidence for me, I guess.

We talked with Tirui a bit more at breakfast, and the feeling deepened. His entire being was immaculately precise to the Tirui in the game. The yellow eyes (they were yellow, now that I saw him); the hair, which was a strange shade of tan and was steepled, just like the game's Tirui; his face, which was hidden completely in black; and his stature. He was short, but extremely fast, if not a little clumsy. 

This was confirmed even worse for me when we were getting ready to leave.

As Angel was getting up, she wasn't watching where she was going. Tirui also stood and followed her. What ensued was the worst four-way collision in the history of Hogwarts.

I said four, because coming down the aisle were two others. One headed for his classroom, and the other to ask a question of Professor McGonagall, more easily reached if approached from the other side of the Griffindor table.

Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, Angel Galis, and Tirui Dark collided, all going at nearly a run.

Angel definitely caught the worst of it, being most closely at the middle, almost like a three-pronged attack. A sickening crack reverberated all over the Great Hall as her arm snapped in two different places. A stray ink bottle from her bag flew out, spattering all four with bright blue ink.

Tirui, struck only from the outside of the collision, landed firmly on his butt and was badly winded. 

Malfoy was flung against the wall, and twisted his ankle. He was also winded, but not badly.

Snape fell on top of the Griffindor table, completely covered in flapjack dressings (jam, syrup, chocolate sauce, among them). He also got the worst of the ink bottle, as it landed directly on top of what had to be the only white shirt he owned.

"D-Detention!" Snape hissed, obviously very angry and very embarrassed. The entire Griffindor table looked like it was going to burst out laughing any minute. Fred and George did, but Snape luckily was no where near them.

Unluckily for Angel, as I later found out.  
"All three of you!" Snape roared. He leapt from the table, flinging a stray flapjack from his hair. "I will see you tonight, here, at seven o'clock sharp. No excuses."

"B-But, sir!" Angel sputtered, tears in her eyes. I knew it was not from the pain in her arm, which she was cradling very carefully. She had always been strong about physical agony, no matter what. I had to admire her for her strength just then.  
"No excuses!" Snape snarled and took off faster than before.  
Angel burst into tears right there on the floor, as the entire Griffindor table watched her, feeling a pity in their hearts. Everyone else thought she was simply in pain from her arm, which must be hurting so badly right now. But I knew she wasn't.

You see, Angel had always prided herself in the fact that she had never gotten in trouble at school before. She'd never been in trouble before, never in anything, even when she beat up that one kid.

And now her record was tainted forever by a mere accident in which she had not had any say in at all. Malfoy gingerly got to his feet, and, despite his ankle, he made his way toward Angel and helped her up.

"Are you all right?" he asked her. His voice wasn't tainted by hate or with any kind of sneer or taunt at all. Malfoy was being kind and courteous, as any gentleman should be. 

"Y-Yes," Angel answered, sniffling a bit. I knew she was in no way all right, but her pride held her back. She had only a tiny scrap of pride left in her and she was holding onto it with every ounce of her strength.

"Angel, do you need help up to the hospital wing?" Harry asked quietly. 

"No, I'll be fine," Angel answered with a smile, but it turned into a wince. "Get to class, you're going to be late. McGonagall will be mad if you're late again."  
Harry, Ron, and I blushed. We had been late four times since the beginning of the year, three too many already for McGonagall.  
"I can help you up, if you want," Hermione offered.  
"No, I'll need your notes later," Angel smirked a little. "It isn't word for word." I blushed an even deeper shade of red than the others. 

"I'll help her," Malfoy said, and almost demanded of us. "You heard the lady. Get to class."

Malfoy grit his teeth together against the sprain in his leg and walked, head held high, by Angel's side out of the Great Hall. I did not see Angel again until lunch that day.

************************************************************************

Oh my GOD! I got a detention! How could he do this to me? He knows I've never gotten in trouble before at school! Yes, it's the truth, I've never had a detention before. I don't know if anyone caught the "word-for-word" joke. But I hope you're all rolling about the flapjack dressings all over Snape! HAHAHA! He deserves it, the meanie!! Yes, I'm being immature. Thanks for everything! And thank Ami of Destiny and Telex for getting me to update this one! WOOOOOO, THANKS GUYS! The POWER OF SKITTLES AND CODE RED RULES OVER ME! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Anyway, see ya'll aroun'.


	11. Kind Dragon, Good Dragon

Well, thank you to Telex for that interesting review...I didn't know my stories were worshipped, LOL. Anyway, to anyone who thought this was going to be a totally in-depth FFIX/Harry Potter story, I'm sorry to disappoint you. Tirui isn't...how do I say this without giving away the plot? How about this--things are not always what they appear.

Disclaimer-We do not own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy IX's characters.

***

Chapter 11: Kind Dragon, Good Dragon

Tears were still shining on my face as Malfoy helped me up to the hospital wing, limping with every step of the way.

"Perhaps I should be helping you stay off that leg," I told Malfoy.

"I don't care about me," he answered gruffly. I could tell he just wanted to scream in pain right now. Why did he insist on helping me? I remained silent, however. The hospital wing was only a few feet away now.

"Goodness!" cried Madam Pomfrey as we entered the room. "Whatever happened to the two of you?"  
"An accident," Malfoy answered abruptly.

"I see, I see," Pomfrey said. "Have a seat, and I'll see how bad it is." She brought out a blank screen of some kind and held it up.

"Which of you first?" she asked cheerfully.

"Him," I said, pointing at Malfoy.

At the same moment, he pointed at me. "Her."  
"Fine, I'll choose," she rolled her eyes and placed the screen over Malfoy's ankle. "Just a sprain." She touched her wand to it and Malfoy stood again, testing his strength.

"Oh, dear," she frowned at the screen over my arm. "How did this happen, Mr. Malfoy?"

"An accident," he answered again.  
"I wasn't watching where I was going and I ended up in the middle," I explained. "Professor Snape wasn't very happy. He got knocked onto the table."  
Pomfrey chuckled at that and pulled out her wand again.  
"This might hurt a bit, dear. Hold still, now."

I grit my teeth and watched as she used her wand to place my bones back where they belonged. With them realigned precisely, she tapped my arm twice, once for each break, and the bones were suddenly whole again.  
"Well, all done," she grinned. "Now, we can just send you on back to class..."

She dug through her desk at the head of the wing, and returned moments later with two pieces of parchment.  
"I've forgotten your name already, dear, care to help?" she asked me sheepishly. Her wand, however, flew from her pocket and pointed at me.

"M-Madam Pomfrey..." I stammered.   
"Don't be silly, dear, that's my name," she chuckled. "Your name? Dear?"

I sat frozen in terror. Malfoy tried to move the wand from its direct course for my chest, but he only managed to move it to point at my left hand. Suddenly my hand went very, very limp.

"What the...what...?" Madam Pomfrey snatched the wand from midair, and beat around where it had been, but caught nothing but air. 

"Really, what on Earth?" Pomfrey stated, rather flustered. "Not even Peeves would try something like this!"

I raised my arm into the air and watched my hand dangle from the wrist bone like a rubber glove. Someone or something had removed the bones in my hand.

"Oh, dear," Pomfrey muttered gravely. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Ma'am?"  
"Can you stay with this young lady? I must go inform the headmaster immediately."  
"Certainly," Malfoy answered. As quickly as that, Pomfrey dashed out into the hall and left me alone with Draco Malfoy. 

Someone help me.  
"Someone is after you," Malfoy sank into the chair next to me. 

"So? What's it to you? I'm Muggle-born, you should be happy," I retorted, glaring at him.   
"Like I care."  
"Why wouldn't you? You're father serves Voldemort, I should expect you'd have his attitude," my throat was clenched tightly. 

"Beautiful, intelligent, and brave, too," he smirked. "Is there no end to your talents?"  
"I'm not talented, I'm not beautiful, and I'm most certainly not brave," I growled. This was getting increasingly annoying, especially the underlying little voice that still had not been crushed in totality. _You like him, you know you do. He's cute and he's being nice to you_...

"You believe so much that isn't true," he sighed. "That's your only flaw."

"What about yours, Malfoy?" I snarled, looking at the wall in front of me. I concentrated on the wall. Maybe then I could keep that little voice down.

"I prefer Draco."  
"Why? You seem determined to call everyone else by last name."

"I can reform," he stated calmly, taking my limp hand in his, studying it. "I will track him down. That was dark magic that controlled her wand. There are few who know how to do that. Even my father."  
"Your father can go jump in a lake, and you can follow him," I snatched my hand back and looked it over, making sure he hadn't done anything. I was caught between wanting to listen to every breath he made and throwing him out the nearest tower window.

"That wasn't very nice," he said, sounding hurt. 

"Of course not, what makes you think you deserve being nice to?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I couldn't...I can't..."  
"Can't what?" I snapped. 

"I can't know the difference. With who my father is, what else can I do?"

"What about your mother?"

"My mother is far worse."

__

Maybe he's telling the truth...maybe he just couldn't help it, I thought, toying with my flopping hand. 

"I _am_ telling the truth."  
"How did you know that's what I was thinking?" I asked sharply. 

"Those books were not a very good way of helping you judge my character," he smiled, his silver eyes twinkling.

"B-Books...h-how did you know...about those?" I stammered. What was going on?

"I've been reading your mind," he answered, his grin broadening. "I know everything, of course. About your world, your worries, your other brother, your mum and dad...how you got here...everything."

__

Everything...

The single word echoed around my head like he had said it on the Quidditch field on a cool, damp day. He knew...Harry Potter's daily enemy knew everything. He knew about Aeolus and my dimension, my numerous pets, my mother (sitting in her wheelchair), my father, Matthew. And he knew my greatest secret of all, the one I had kept from him and everyone else.

That I liked him.  
"Everything?" I whimpered squeakily.

"Is it so terrible?" he asked, but my answer was cut off. Dumbledore had entered the room, followed by a fretting Madam Pomfrey.

"Angel, have you any idea who is after your life?" Dumbledore asked, studying my hand a moment, then nodding to Madam Pomfrey.

"No, sir," I shook my head.

"You're very lucky," Pomfrey said, watching me as she prepared a steaming mug of what I supposed was Skele-Gro. "It was aiming for your chest."  
"Only dark magic could control a wand long-distance," Dumbledore stated severely. His eyes were extremely worried, the typical twinkle gone from them. "You're lucky, indeed. Had it been your ribs, or even your whole arm, it would have been disastrous."

"As it is, it will take until eleven to regrow the hand bones," Pomfrey said. 

"That's twenty minutes after second class," Dumbledore sighed. "Mr. Malfoy, what are you still doing here?"

"Oh, I asked him to watch her," Pomfrey said.

"Well enough. Come along, Mr. Malfoy, I'll escort you back to class."  
_Thank God_. I thought.

"Take this, dear, this is going to be very painful for you."  
I took the potion and sat back in my chair to wait. It was going to be a while.

************************************************************************

Oooohh...Malfoy can read minds now. I thought this would be an interesting twist...I guess I succeeded! Someone's out to get me! Ah! For real, too, in the past week, my bike chain has broken, I've fallen from a tree, had a knife thrown at me, had a chicken thrown at me...oi, I'm a mess right now, I tell ya.


	12. The Others Know

In light of the completion of this story and David's science fair project success, we will be uploading two chapters today. David is now ten years old, as of the ninth of April. I will be seventeen as of the twenty-ninth. 

Plus....DAVID GOT SECOND OF SHOW IN HIS THIRD GRADE SCIENCE FAIR!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BABY! David is ecstatic right now, and it's a good thing, too. 

Disclaimer: We own nothing.

***

Chapter 12: The Others Know

"Just like that?" I repeated in shock. "The wand just flew in the air and-"  
"Yes, David, don't make me repeat myself again," Angel sighed. She flexed her hand again, testing the new bones she had just finished getting regrown. "Dumbledore said that only dark magic could control a wand long-distance like that."

"Can you imagine what would have happened if Malfoy hadn't intervened?" Hermione shivered. 

"I know what would have happened," Angel whispered darkly. "I don't know what to think anymore, guys. This...wasn't supposed to happen. This isn't normal."  
"Angel, normal is far from being part of any of our lives now," I smiled at her. "We just have to deal with it."

She smiled up at me. "You sure have grown, Dee." Angel continued talking, and I later found out that she had been telling the others how and why we had gotten here, to the Harry Potter world. I still don't know what possessed her to do it just then.

I don't know why or how, but that simple acknowledgement from my sister filled me with a pride I'd never known before. She had always been an interesting person, because she never told anyone who she was. 

It was now, seeing her regain her feet after hours of agony, that I realized something else about her. She had never known who she was. 

I knew who she was, of course. She was my sister, seven years...no, seven _minutes_ older than me. Angel was incredibly smart, but she wasn't very wise. She always told me there was a difference between intelligence and wisdom.

FLASHBACK)}(){(

"Baby, I want you to always remember something," Angel said, her chubby but powerful arms holding me tight so I wouldn't escape. She was a very forceful person.   
"What, sissy?"

"I want you to remember the difference between intelligence and wisdom, and the difference between happiness and joy. Intelligence is knowledge of things, facts and opinions of others. Wisdom is the ability and the courage to use that intelligence for the betterment of others.

"Happiness is the joy of the moment. Joy is eternal happiness, the satisfaction of knowing you have everything you could ever have wanted."  
"What do you want, sissy?"

"I don't know, babe," she smiled sadly. "I really don't know."

"You're smart, sissy."  
"Maybe, babe. Maybe."

FLASHBACK)}(){(

I still remember that conversation, even to this day. Now I realize what she meant, and why her smile had been so sad. She doesn't know who she is.

"Now that we know someone's after Angel, what do we do?" Ron asked, looking terribly confused.  
"We wait," Harry stated simply.

"Wait?!" Ron shouted incredulously. "Wait?! For all we know, the person could be after all of us, and you just want to wait?!"

"Yes," I answered. "If they want us, they'll have to come and get us. Until then, we learn all we can to help us fight."

"That's something to do," Hermione said. "We can learn some spells and charms that can help us fight."

Ron, Harry, and I let out a moan.

***

Our first flying lesson was today. It was the third Thursday into the term, and we were all hard at work. Hermione and Angel researched things for us to try and tried it themselves. If they couldn't do it, they went to Remus, who had turned out to be a good Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

It was on this day that the Slytherins and the Griffindors would be flying their brooms. Ironically enough, Neville had spilled some kind of potion on himself, courtesy of Snape, and so would not be at the first lesson.

"Good morning, class," said Madam Hooch as she stepped onto the green field, where lay several battered old broomsticks all in a neat row. 

"Good morning, Madam Hooch," we intoned to her.

We stepped up to the "right side of our brooms" and placed our hands over them. She told us all to say "Up!".

Among the first to hold the brooms were myself and Harry. Angel and Hermione both continuously shouted "UP!" at their brooms. Angel was flushing a very deep shade of red when she realized she had been holding her hand over her right side. Which was, needless to say, the wrong side of herself.

When she placed her hand over the _correct _side of herself, the broom immediately leapt into her hand.

"Mount your brooms, and be sure to keep a firm grip. Wouldn't want you sliding off the ends," Madam Hooch told us, holding her whistle to her lips. "When I blow, rise off the ground a few feet, then lean forward a bit to land again." She blew her whistle and I kicked off the ground gently.

Tirui, Hermione, Malfoy, and several of the Slytherins nearly fell off their brooms, and two of the Slytherins _did_ fall off. Angel, myself, Harry, Ron, and Seamus managed to keep ourselves steady in the air. After a second attempt, Hermione, though blushing, did manage to stay in the air, though very wobbly. 

Angel had been anticipating this moment the entire time, so she had been secretly practicing with a Shooting Star that Fred and George had managed to snitch from the school shed. I must say, she looked as though she'd been on a broom her whole life. Of course, she also looked very much the natural when she'd been practicing.

I guess being a fantasy lover all her life had prepared her for it. I can easily say that beside me, she looked like a real angel on that broom, as graceful and poised as can be. Madam Hooch smiled at her and nodded her approval. Harry also got Hooch's approving gaze and smile. I did not.

At dinner that night, we talked animatedly about the lesson, which had continued into riding a small relay race. Our team of four (myself, Harry, Ron, and Angel) had easily won over any of the other teams, even Malfoy and Hermione's. It was no wonder about that victory, though, because the other two players had been Crabbe and Goyle, easily the two heaviest boys out there.

"Hey, Angel, we've got a bone to pick with you," Fred and George arrived and sat down across from her.   
"Yes?" she said, looking quite surprised.

"Whatever happened to that detention you got from Snape?" George asked.

"You remember, the one you got for brilliantly covering him in flapjack stuffs?" Fred added, sniggering under his breath.

"That's a fair question," I said, turning to stare at Angel. "How _did _you get out of it? And Malfoy and Tirui?"

"We didn't," Angel answered, nonchalantly cutting up her sausages.

"What? How did you..."  
"Snape made us clean the Great Hall. I don't know where the man got Pine Sol, though," she smirked to herself. "Tirui, however, was made to clean up the kitchens. He had it easy, the house elves helped him a lot."

"Oh, _that's_ why the Hall was so clean," Hermione smiled at her. "Why didn't you tell us, Angel?"

"I didn't want you to worry, especially not David," she looked at me, smiling. "After all, he wouldn't want to know about me being all alone with Draco for so long."  
"What?!?" I snapped. "You were alone with Malfoy for that long?!"

"See? Knew he'd blow his top."  
"I have every right to! What happened?!"

"Nothing. I started over there, and he started here and we met in the middle, and the room was clean in an hour, nothing more. He is a very diligent worker, I must say."

"That's it? You're sure?" I asked.

"Yes, brother, yes, I'm sure. My goodness, you'd think you were my father," she giggled lightly. "An assumption you made not too long ago."

I blushed and let the matter go. After all, we were even now. Oh, well.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Galis, if the two of you are finished, I'd like to speak with you a moment," Professor McGonagall said as she passed by our table. "Meet me in the entrance to the kitchens."  
"Yes, ma'am," Angel chirped, though she sounded very confused. Harry simply stared after her, also bewildered.

"I wonder what all that's about?" Ron stared after them.

"I don't know," I murmured under my breath, watching my sister and Harry leave for the door, both exchanging looks of thorough perplexity.

************************************************************************

Just to let you know, I did actually pull the "Flash Back" scene on him. He said he wanted to throw it into the story. Dunno why. He's so protective, too! Gosh, look at his reaction to me being alone with Malfoy! Felonies!


	13. Quidditch

Next up! 

Disclaimer: We own nothing.

***

Chapter 13: Quidditch

"You wanted to see us, Professor?" I asked, glancing up at the infamous painting of fruit that hung on the wall. Harry seemed preoccupied with toying with his robes. I could tell he was nervous.

"Yes, Miss Galis. You see, Madam Hooch has informed me that she saw the two of you at your first flying lesson," she began. _Well, duh,_ I thought,_ Hooch is the teacher_. "She said she noticed that the two of you had very immaculate abilities on a broom. I've spoken with Wood, our Griffindor House Quidditch Captain, and he's asked for you to join him on the field tonight at six o'clock."

"Y-You mean...we could be on the Quidditch team?" I whispered, my eyes wide. "But...aren't you only looking for a Seeker?"

"Well, no," she grimaced lightly. "Two of our Chasers met terrible accidents over the summer. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet are incapable of flying for at least a year."  
"Oh, no, are they all right?" I asked worriedly. Angelina, in particular, had been one of my favorite girl characters, even though the books hadn't necessarily focused on her for any amount of time.

"They're alive, if that's what you mean," she answered evasively. I blanched a little, but inside I was jumping up and down.  
"But wait, what about the last Chaser?"  
"We haven't seen anyone who seems to possess any natural talent..."

"My brother and Ron are both very good candidates," I offered immediately. 

"Very well. I will inform Wood that the four of you will be on the field. Don't be late." 

With a swish of her emerald cloak, she had gone.  
"What's Quidditch?" Harry asked me.

***

"Hello, hello," said Wood as he came out onto the field. He had enlisted me to help him carry the heavy box, which contained all four Quidditch balls. "I can't tell you how pleased I am to see four people dedicated to help our cause." He winced a little. "It is very bleak."  
"Not with us around," David grinned. He seemed to be jumping up and down with excitement inside, and trying to keep it there. 

"Okay, now, Quidditch is very, very simple," Wood began. "You've got your Quaffle, which two of you will be handling on the field. You try and get it past the Keeper and through those three hoops." He pointed across the field.

"And then you've got the Bludgers," I put in. "They try and knock people off their brooms. The Beaters keep them away from their teams and aimed for other players."  
"Precisely," Wood continued. "And last is the Golden Snitch, which the Seeker must catch. One of you will be the Seeker, in charge of catching it."

"Mount your brooms and let's see what you've got. Hey, Katie, come on out!"

"You asked Katie to help?" I turned to Wood. "You could have let us know from the beginning."  
He flushed red.

"First we'll run through some moves with the Quaffle," Wood announced.

After a long time of passing the Quaffle around, which felt a great deal like a basketball or volleyball, Wood called us back to the ground.  
"You're as fast as Madam Hooch said, Potter," Wood smiled at him.  
"Just like your dad," I put in. 

"Dad?" Harry, Wood, and Katie turned to look at us.

"Yeah," I flushed pink. "James Potter. He helped Griffindor win the Cup several times."

"Then so will Harry," Wood smirked. "That settles it, Potter. You'll definitely make a great Seeker. Now, Miss Galis..."  
"Angel's fine, Mr. Oliver," I put in abruptly.

"Then Oliver's fine with me," he added. "You're a quick one, and a natural on that broom. That old model Shooting Star even sings when you've got it. So you're going to be our replacement for Angelina on this team."  
I grinned broadly, then glanced at David and Ron. Oh...neither of them would be very happy if they didn't make the team.

"I just can't say no to either of you," Wood said finally. "You're both good. I definitely want Angel on the team, but it's a toss-up between you two."

Ron and David stared at each other.

"Why don't we trade off?" David said finally. "We probably have different strengths. So maybe one of us is better against any one team, you know?"

"Gotta hand it to you two Galis kids," Oliver grinned. "It's a done deal."

David and Ron shook hands and grinned. I think Ron was very proud of himself, but David was ecstatic. It was the one thing he'd ever wanted to do, was play on his school basketball team or soccer team, because it was the closest thing to Quidditch. Now he had what he wanted, and I was happy for him.

I was a whole different story, however. This was one thing I hadn't really planned on, ever. Back in my world, I'd been too fat to be on any team, and too shy. Now it was here for the taking and I had taken it, but reluctantly. Somehow, this whole thing did not feel right. Both Alicia and Angelina getting hurt during the summer? It just didn't add up. It did not make any sense at all.

That Friday morning was an interesting one. Four owls flew through the windows and dropped four obvious parcels onto the Griffindor table. Keiko, David's owl, flew up to McGonagall, where she sat being petted quietly by our teacher.

"Four Nimbus Two Thousands..." I said dumbly, staring at them in awe. Where had Professor McGonagall gotten the money for this? What had possessed her to do it? I know she had done it for Harry in the book, but still...

Oh, well.

Guess who was the talk of the tables? Draco, a person I now found very intriguing and kind, congratulated me on making the team. He smiled and walked back to his seat, where he now sat alone. Crabbe and Goyle had abandoned him, and all the other Slytherins seemed to think he had some kind of rabies or something. 

"Great job, you four," Fred and George were both grinning madly at us, as though they were going to pounce at once. "Wood's told us all about it. And now you've got Nimbus Two Thousands, too!"

Ron clutched his new broom possessively. I smiled at him.  
"What, afraid your brothers will steal it or something?" Ron nodded, making the whole table laugh.

***

That night, the eight of us held our first official practice. I don't think anything I can say can describe the sensation of flying to anyone. At once, it's like your stomach drops out of you, but at the same time like your head is gonna spin forever. Then you feel like time itself has stopped and nothing else in the world is gonna stop you now.

Until a Bludger nearly scalps you, that is. 

Katie, Ron, and I seemed to be in perfect unison, but so did Katie, **David**, and I. Both David and Ron were excellent players, and both would be good in a match. Oliver was flipping head over heels about the whole thing.

Our first match would be against Hufflepuff. I was glad that it would be against one of the easier teams.

Glad because I did not want to go against Slytherin just yet.

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Who knew the Quidditch thing was coming up? Come on, tell me, who knew that me and Dee and Ron were gonna be on the team? BE HONEST!

See ya later, guys, hope you enjoyed it. We are ruled by CODE RED AND SKITTLES AND HAPPINESS OF A JOB WELL DONE!


	14. Thanksgiving

Okay, there's a depressing little truth about myself at the end of this chapter, don't pay too much attention to it. I changed the name of the guy (unfortunately, it's the same name as one of my other guy friends. Stevo, I AIN'T TALKING ABOUT YOU!), so no one can tell who he is for real. 

I've decided to upload everything now, because I've already started in on part two. Hope ya like it!

Disclaimer: We own nothing. (*cowers in terror* Don't sue us, please!)

***

Chapter 14: Thanksgiving

October had passed us by, as had Halloween (the bats had been excellent!), and November dropped upon us faster than I would have liked. Sure, I liked the Grangers, but I did not want to leave Hogwarts so quickly.

Our first match against Hufflepuff came up like a chicken hatching. In other words, I knew it was going to happen, but I wasn't prepared for it. A week before our match, Ron and I discussed our options. Wood had told us to work it out between ourselves.

"We've seen Hufflepuff in action," Ron said, thinking a bit over. "If anything, I'd say that I lack speed compared to you-"  
"And I lack strength compared to you," I added, admitting that Ron was a lot stronger than me.

"From what I've seen the Hufflepuffs use agility in their moves," Ron moved on. "Not strength. So, this will be your match."  
"All right," I smiled, glad. "I've noticed the Ravenclaws also beefing up for our match against them. They seem to want strength. That's your match."  
"Cool," he grinned too. "But Slytherin..."  
"Slytherin..."  
We hadn't any intelligence at all on that team. Slytherins were very careful that no one, and I _mean **no one**_, watched they practices. No one had seen hide nor hair of the Slytherin practices, but Madam Hooch always vouched for them that they were practicing. And very hard.

"We'll cross that road when we come to it," I said finally. "We don't have that match until May."  
"Yeah."

"All set for tomorrow's exam?" Angel asked us, sitting down opposite us. "McGonagall said it would be difficult."  
"Her classes are _always_ difficult," Ron pointed out.

"Only if you don't pay attention, Mr. Weasley," Angel sniffed indignantly.

"At least I can change the color of whatever it is," I sighed. "That's the _only_ attribute I've managed to change fully."  
"You can do it, babe," Angel grinned. "You've just got to believe you can. Watch this."  
She pulled out her wand and tapped the rock she pulled from her pocket. An intricate design appeared all over it with one tap and muttered word. It changed white and blue next. Then flattened last, revealing a white china plate, the kind my mother had always admired but never bought.

"Unfortunately, you can't fully transfigure anything," Angel said, pouting. "It's still made of stone, underneath all that. Otherwise people really could change straw into gold."

She stood up, and with a wave of her wand, the stone returned to her hand as if it had never been a plate before at all.

"I envy her," Ron sank into his robes. "She can do anything."  
"Not quite," I answered him. "She is a very confused person, Ron. I don't think she'll ever find out who she really is."  
"You can say that again, Galis," Malfoy appeared behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I still don't trust the boy. "I'm not that person, David. Try to remember that." With a flick of his robes, he walked away, too.

"Why don't you trust him?" Ron asked. "I know he's in Slytherin and everything, but he seems to be a pretty nice guy."  
"I know. It's just that I can't shake the feeling that he isn't totally truthful," I shivered a little before turning back to Ron. "Come on, let's see if we can't master a few of these things."

***

McGonagall's test came and went, too. I had managed a pretty decent-looking plate out of the stone, which turned out to be McGonagall's test. 

The week also flew by. With Quidditch practice and our homework, it seemed to fly, anyway. Our match against Hufflepuff was upon us already.

Angel, Harry, and I sat in the locker room as Wood gave us his speech. It was the first of his speeches I'd ever heard, and I looked as though I paid rapt attention. However, I was more preoccupied with the screams and cheers and boos coming from outside in the stands. 

The whole school was going to watch us.

I had totally forgotten about it.

This was not good.

"How was your first game, Wood?" I asked, my brain a little fuzzy.

"I don't remember it real well," he answered. "Took a Bludger ten minutes in. Woke in the hospital wing a week later."  
Yeah, like that helped. Sorry I asked.

"Calm down, Angel, calm down," I heard my sister whispering to herself. She hated crowds in the first place.

"And here they come! The new Griffindor team, including Fred and George Weasley as the Beaters, David and Angel Galis and Katie Bell as the Chasers, Harry Potter as the Seeker, and Oliver Wood as Keeper and Captain! Also on the team this year is backup Chaser Ron Weasley."

I flew over the crowd, tiny pinpoints on the ground. The nervous feeling in my stomach hadn't gone, but it wasn't as bad now that I was in the air, ready.

Our positions were set. Angel on the far left, Katie to my immediate left, and me on the end.   
"The Quaffle is released and they're off!" Lee Jordan shouted. The Weasley twin's friend was a pretty good commentator, making sure to get every face right. "It's Griffindor in possession, Katie Bell. A quick pass to Angel Galis, one of the newest additions to the team and the goal is clear...She SCORES! Ten points to Griffindor!"

The game went on like this, the three of us passing the Quaffle back and forth. Hufflepuff was no competition at all. Fred and George hit Bludger after Bludger at the other players, and that helped even more. Hufflepuff only had the Quaffle one shining moment, when it was blocked by Wood. 

I think all Wood did that day was cheer, though.

I didn't even realize that Harry had caught the Snitch until Angel tugged the Quaffle from my hands and pointed at him. She rolled her eyes. I blushed and raced down to congratulate him.

Our first win was easily won, needless to say.

***

Thanksgiving, a holiday Angel continuously said that the books never focused on, came a few days later. I could see why, though. The whole thing was just one great big feast, equal in status to that of the opening feast, I'd say.

Angel seemed extremely sad that day, but I didn't know why. When I asked her she just sighed and said it was "nothing important". She ate, but I could tell it was just for my benefit, which made me worry. Angel was an eater, she always ate anything she could, whenever she could. 

There was no way this was "nothing important".

Thanksgiving passed, yes, but I couldn't help but look back on it and wonder. What was up with Angel? Why had she been so sad, so depressed? It had continued ever since. She didn't seem herself at all, and I couldn't know why. 

"David, do you know what's wrong with Angel?" Hermione asked me after classes about a week later. "She won't tell me anything."  
"Nope, sorry," I shrugged. "She won't say anything to me about it, either. She's been like this since Thanksgiving."  
"That's strange..."  
"Not really," I smiled. "It's just like her."  
"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"She's never really trusted people before. I can't really blame her."

"Why's that?"

"Come on," I sighed. "Sit down, I'll explain." She sat down in the chair in front of the fireplace and I began to explain.

"Don't tell the others, okay?" she nodded. "About three months before we came here, she learned that one of her best friends from when she was little had died." Hermione gasped. "But, she found out about a week before we came that the whole thing had been a lie. A scam to get her worried about him."  
"Wh-What?" Hermione whispered. "Talk about the dirtiest trick in the book!! Tricking someone into thinking your dead, why, that's inhuman!"

"Yeah. She's really touchy on the subject, especially when you ask if she's ever had a boyfriend. I wouldn't suggest it."  
"Wait, how old was she again?"

"Sixteen."  
Hermione was silent a moment. "Who was this person?"  
"His name was Stephen. But like I said, don't say anything, she's really-"  
"Yes, I heard you," she smiled. "Don't worry, David, I'll keep it secret. I'm glad I know now."

"Yeah, I suppose you would be. She didn't trust people before that, but the whole ordeal kind of intensified the feeling," I grinned sheepishly. "I'm the closest to her, and I still don't understand her at all."  
"I understand," Hermione nodded.  
I wondered if I had done the right thing, but shrugged it off as Harry asked me to play a game of Exploding Snap.

The next day, I noticed Malfoy studying me in a strange manner, then glancing at Tirui, almost invisible in the back row. Malfoy seemed extremely disturbed, but I couldn't be bothered with it. Snape was telling us how to make the next potion and I wasn't going to mess this one up for anyone. 

************************************************************************

Dee asked me to reveal that one as part of the story. *grimaces* Great, now the whole world knows. Oy....


	15. Tirui Dark

Okay, there is probably one thing I should mention before this one starts; TIRUI IS NOT THE VIVI FROM FINAL FANTASY IX! He is a character who is masked to look like him, yes. I probably should have mentioned that before, but...heh! Sorry!

***

Chapter 15: Tirui Dark

Since I had met Tirui Dark, formal introductory style, I couldn't help but watch him closely. I felt like he was some terrible demon from my past, ready to spring up and take me back to his master. Yet at the same time I realized that he was almost as confused as I was. 

It was Thanksgiving afternoon that I discovered something odd about the shadow-faced boy. I will admit, at first I found it strange that his hair was steepled like Vivi's from Final Fantasy IX, but I figured it was probably something to do with his pride or something.

Tirui and I were both studying in the library, separately. He didn't even know I'd been in the room, at least, I don't think so. If I hadn't been so absorbed in my book, I would never have noticed the tiny smudge in the corner of the page. 

***FLASHBACK***

"What on Earth...?" I whispered to myself, studying the smudge. I had always been very careful with my books, especially library books, and I was certain the smudge hadn't been there before I had begun reading the page.

A loud scrape of a chair being recklessly pushed back interrupted my interpreting of the insignificant smudge of red paint on the book. When I saw it was only Tirui leaning back in his chair, I began to regard my book again, yet I glanced up quickly against as his hair flew back. Obviously, I was curious what his face looked like.

What I saw was no human face.

Slits for a nose and a lipless mouth characterized very pale skin, chinless. He opened his mouth to yawn and I saw the glint of a sharp fang embedded in his gums. The yellow eyes, round and glowing, opened with a snap.

He had seen me. He knew I'd seen him.

There was a flash of blackness that others could not see, had there been anyone to see it in the first place. In an instant, I was no longer in the library, but in a dark, dank room, which reeked of blood and death. Tirui's steepled hair still had not fallen, and he was glaring at me with unmistakable, unmitigated fury.

"You're right," he growled at me, his voice contorting and quite unlike his true voice. Or was this his real voice? "I am a vampire. Tell anyone--_anyone_, and I will bite you myself, and believe me, you won't ever have a will of your own again. _Got that_?!"

I nodded quickly, backed up against the cold stone wall of the dungeon he had apparently brought me to. There was another flash of black, incomparably deeper than the darkness of the dungeon, and I was back in the library, seated at my table, staring at the smudge of red ink. The ink had changed quickly, and I believe it was now written in blood.

No. It _was_ blood. Mine. **_Tell anyone, you die._**

***FLASHBACK***

__

Tell anyone, you die...The words echoed around in my head worse than the small crush Draco seemed to have on me. Draco had gotten to be a better friend than I had imagined before. He was excellent at Potions, and Snape seemed to favor me only when I sat with him. We exchanged notes every day to make certain neither of us had missed anything that may have been of importance.

Back to Tirui, though. It was hard to believe Professor Dumbledore had let him into the school, knowing he would need human blood to drink of. Surely Dumbledore had considered the danger to the students?

Wait, would Dumbledore even know that he was a vampire? Maybe I should tell him about Tirui! _Tell anyone, you die_...The words came back full force, as though they'd been shouted in the dungeon in which Tirui had taken me.

So I simply dredged along, trying to act as though nothing had happened. Obviously, everyone knew something was up. When it came to acting like nothing was wrong, I wasn't exactly a genius. Of course, I'd done a good job when Stephen betrayed me, but that's a whole different story from this one.

I dredged along the dismal halls of the proud Hogwarts School, keeping a secret as deep and dark as the Forbidden Forest's deepest depths. Tirui is a vampire, one out for my blood if I tell a single soul...

Draco!

With a start, I realized it all. Draco knew about Tirui! Why else would he continue talking to me normally, as though he noticed nothing? I had forgotten completely that Draco could read my mind as plain as he opened his Potions book beside me and as I sat down next to him.

"You know, don't you?" I whispered to him quietly, seeing as Tirui wasn't in the room yet. 

"Of course," he said silkily, as though it did not matter. He was putting on an act, I knew it from the start. "He is very pale and seems drawn to moonlight."

"Yeah," I nodded quickly. He was trying to make it seem like we were talking about Professor Lupin! Draco, you're a genius! "I wonder, really, if it's really safe to have him around?"

"I do not know, Angel," he whispered in my ear as Tirui came into the room. "But I do know one thing; the other teachers seem not to notice. Have you noticed that?"

The bell rang and I nodded in agreement. It was strange that unless you really looked for him, Tirui was no where to be found at all. It was very strange indeed.

I went to sleep that night under the presumption that I was safe. At least Draco knew my peril and how great a danger I was in. He could help protect me from the steeple-haired vampire.

***

"I grow tired of your weakness," growled a soft voice in the dark. "Tirui, you are my servant. I would hate to destroy you so early in this chess game."  
"I will destroy the girl as soon as I can get her alone, milord. She is vulnerable, I think," Tirui, the only person I could see, said. "She does not know of her power. She believes herself deformed and stupid and extremely open to attack. Therefore she is."  
"It worries me, the Dragon."  
"The Dragon will be disposed of as well. I think we shall leave the other, the original choice, to destroy your opposition, milord? Is that plan worthy?"

"Yes, as long as he keeps strong despite kin's death. If he weakens, kill him, too," the person in the shadows flexed gloved hands and I felt I knew them. "Kill the werewolf, most of all. He grows a nuisance with every breath."

"Of course, my liege. Is there anything else?"

"The other girl, Hermione. Destroy her and the redhead as well. It will leave Harry no choice but to attack his main opponent. He is defenseless because of lack of training, and therefore he will also be gotten rid of."  
"A wonderful plan, my lord," Tirui knelt before the dark shadow. I drew in a quick gasp of breath, causing the vampire to stand quickly.

"I heard it, too," said the voice. "See who is there. They must be destroyed as well. It is rude to eavesdrop."

"Quite," Tirui walked right over to my hiding place and touched with his black hand. I was tempted to bite it, but found that my jaws went straight through him. "I see him not, sire. Whoever it was, he's gone now."  
"Hmm. Let him rue the day he listened to us. Be cautious, Tirui. Things are not always what they seem."  
"Thank you, milord. Good night," and a whisper of wind stole him away, leaving only the black figure. I made my way toward him, but the winds picked up and I coughed and wheezed to get air. The area went black around me and I felt a sudden pain in my neck before I lost consciousness.

***

I awoke a small while later to the smell of some kind of potion, unnamable to me. The murmurs around me grew to a crescendo as I sat up with a weary start. The entire room spun as though I'd stood up too quickly after a movie.

"Angel!" David's face came into view, as did Hermione's, Harry's, Ron's, and Draco's. Among the background faces, I saw Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lupin, Madam Pomfrey, and Oliver Wood, though why he'd be there, I wouldn't know.

"W-Whut huppen'?" I asked, my voice unused to speaking and slurring terribly. "Why ehm ah in da hospitsal weenga?" It surprised me just how much my voice had gone out. It made me question further. "Howa lon' ah bin 'ere?"  
"We discovered a certain Tirui Dark hovering around in your dormitory," answered Professor Dumbledore gravely. "Had I known he was here under the pretense of a student, I would have sent him away immediately. He somehow made himself invisible except to those who wished to see him. Luckily, Mr. Malfoy here informed me of your imminent danger and I've been surveying your dorm for quite some time now."

"We' 'ow come ah'm in 'ere? An' whuy can' I tulk righ'?"

"You haven't used your voice in over a week," Dumbledore smiled sadly. "Dark got to you a little bit before we did. He was able to bite you, but not long enough to get more than a pint of blood, if that. Almost like being at the doctor's office, only much, much worse."

"Are you all right, Angel?" Hermione quivered.  
"I wish I had such loyal friends," smiled Madam Pomfrey happily. "This lot's been up here ever since it happened and refused to leave and insisted on helping out at every turn."

"R'ally?" I slurred.

"Yes, very much so," Professor Lupin said. "Much like James and Sirius when we were young." His face darkened a moment but it did not remain.

"It's only gonna get worse," Draco said gravely. "They're after us all now, aren't they, Angel?"

The others looked at me expectantly, and I nodded shame-facedly.

"Ah had a duh-ream," I slurred out again.

"Tirui was speaking with a dark, shaded person, without any details in his person," Draco offered. "Whoever he is, he's after all us kids and Lupin."

"Great, just what we needed," David said sarcastically.

"Nah, i's all righ'," I said. "E'rethin's gonn' be all righ'."

************************************************************************

Sorry if my slur-voice is a little bit...weird. I tried to make it sound like me when I was really, really tired this one time...oh, well. Next chappie! Sorry to anyone who thought Tirui was going to be a good guy!


	16. Riddle of a Riddle

This begins the final plot of Part I of this story. Who is the man behind the mysterious attacks on Angel, and why is he after her? Find out today, on _Winds of Aeolus_!

***

Chapter 16: Riddle of a Riddle

Obviously, things did not improve, but I was glad at least that I knew Angel wasn't worried about Stephen. Although it had happened not long before our little "adventure", it was cause for concern. Angel was vulnerable.

"At least Tirui is dead," Harry said as we walked down the corridor. Now it was December, a time after Tirui had revealed himself to be. Everything to do with our enemies had been quiet. Too quiet.

"Who did you say brought you here?" Ron asked, trying to shove Scabbers back into his pocket. I knew what Scabbers was, of course, but I did not plan on telling Ron. At least, not yet.

"Some guy named Aeolus," I shrugged it off. "He said that he was the future form of her friend Aeolus, but she tells me that she doubts it. Some 'feeling' or some such rubbish. In my opinion, anyhow."

"If he brought you here, then he's all right," Harry grinned. 

"He wants us to help you guys kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," I chewed thoughtfully on this for the first time in months. Of course, I had resorted to calling Voldemort by anything but is name. It kept Ron happy, anyway. "But I've still got one main question about that. After all this time of me settling in here, I've finally got to think on that. Angel and me kind of didn't have a choice."

"What happened when he brought you?" Harry asked. 

"Well, we had just begun reading Goblet of Fire and I was going to sleep," I replied. "It was really funny how it happened. I just sort of...fell through the couch."  
"You fell through the couch?"

"Yeah. Then everything went dark and I heard Angel screaming my name, but the wind had taken my breath, so I couldn't answer back," I didn't want to say that I was just too scared to answer at the time. They're my friends, but they'd still laugh, even at something so childishly simple.

We reached the Transfiguration classroom, and so had to be silent of such topics. Although Ron and Harry and Hermione and the teachers knew where we had really come from, it wasn't a good idea to let others know, at least not yet.

"Good morning, David," Angel smiled back at me as I sat down. "Ron, Harry, all right?"

"Yes, thanks," Harry smiled. Ron grinned at her, too.

"Good morning, class," Professor McGonagall made her way to the front. "Today, we will be transfiguring..." Her voice trailed off in my mind. She continued to drone on and on about what we were to be Transfiguring, however, I was hearing a different voice.

"It appears that the young girl is vulnerable now," said the voice. "We should go for it soon."

"But, sir!"

"It would be wise to act soon. But when?"

"Sir..."  
"David!" Professor McGonagall rapped the desk in front of me and I awoke to the sounds of laughter. I had fallen so deep into my trance that it had appeared I had simply fallen asleep.

"Sorry, Professor," I mumbled. 

"See that it doesn't happen again, Galis. Five points from Griffindor," she moved on, leaving me feeling worse than ever before.

***

"Are you sure it's Angel it's after?" Hermione asked fretfully when I told them what had happened. I nodded gravely and bit my lip.

"They kept saying that 'it would be wise to act soon', but they couldn't decide when to do it," I licked my lips apprehensively. "What do you make of it, Ang?"

"Dunno, babe," she shook her head. "I should be used to death threats by now." 

"Angel, why are all these people after you?" Harry asked. "I don't get it. You're a writer with extraordinary magical talent, but wouldn't they be going after Hermione far more, since she's from this dimension? They've hardly even mentioned her. No offense."  
"None taken," Hermione waved it off. "Harry's got a point, Angel. It's not quite right."  
"I know," she threw up her arms. "But what am I to do? It's not like I can just reach into a hat and pull out all the answers."

"Maybe you can..." I murmured to myself. The Sorting Hat may have the answers to this little riddle. "Come on, guys. We're going to see Professor Dumbledore."

With that, I took off toward the front doors.  
"Uh...Dee? Even I don't know the precise way to his office," Angel interrupted me.

"No, but we know someone who does," I smiled back and walked out the door, heading directly to Hagrid's hut. "Hagrid will be able to help us."  
"Of course!" Hermione smiled.

"Yeah, Hagrid'll know what to do," Harry smiled. 

***

"Sure, I'll take yeh to Dumbledore's office," Hagrid grinned broadly when we explained our predicament. "He'll definitely know what to do."

"Thanks, Hagrid," Ron sighed in relief.

"Aww, is Ronald worried about me?" Angel teased him. He turned about as red as his hair. 

"I think we're all worried for your safety, Angel," Hermione covered the tension as quickly as it had been laid. "Let's go, before anything happens."  
Malfoy met us outside.

"I heard it all," he ran a hand through his hair. 

"Why do you insist on following my sister everywhere we go?" I growled at him. "It's like you're stalking her or something."

"I'm not."

"We don't have time for this rubbish," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Coming or going, boys?"

We followed her. Malfoy followed as well.

"Here yeh are," Hagrid announced. He stated some out-and-out password about gummy worms and climbed onto the moving spiral staircase. Everyone else followed him closely, not wanting to climb stairs about now.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir?" Hagrid called as soon as he got off the staircase. 

"Hagrid, what a surprise," but he did not seem surprised at all. Angel took one look at him and pulled out her wand.  
"There's something weird about him," she warned the others. "That's not Dumbledore."

"She's right," Malfoy announced, drawing his own wand. "It's someone named Kuja, in disguise."  
"K-Kuja?" I stammered. "Like, Final Fantasy IX Kuja?"

"My father is very displeased," said Kuja, his guise tearing away to reveal his girlishly handsome Genome form. "Very displeased that Remulus did not succeed. Displeased that Tirui did not succeed. He will be pleased now, at least."

"What are you talking, Kuja?" Angel snarled. "_Immobulus_!" Kuja dodged the charm, clicking his tongue at her. "I defeated you in a game, Kuja. I can defeat you in real life, too."  
"Game?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still clueless and I was frozen in fear. Only Draco and Angel were prepared to fight. Hagrid seemed to have disappeared and I wondered only briefly where he could have gotten to.

"The Hat was correct, it would seem," Kuja's silky voice caressed Angel's ears, drawing her into some kind of trance. "You do belong with the Snakes."

"Angel, snap out of it!" I screamed at her. Instead of listening to me, she took a heavy, determinate step forward. Draco lunged for her and kept her back by her forearms.

"Someone, try and immobilize him, something!" Draco called to the others. Angel took another step despite his firm hold on her. "Anything!" 

Hermione stepped forward. "_Ciadulus_!" Her wand gave a spark of red light, then died. "What happened?!" 

"Your wand's been Blanketed. It's useless to try and use it on me," Kuja laughed as Angel took three more thudding steps forward. Hermione and Ron jumped to try and help Draco pull her back, but even with all three, it was useless. Hagrid leapt in, and so did Harry. As quickly as Kuja had appeared, they disappeared. My sister and all of my friends were gone.

I heard a muffled sound of terror and climbed a small set of stairs, deeper into Dumbledore's office. The real Dumbledore was under Fawkes' perch, gagged and bound with magical ropes.

"I-I don't know how to release you," I muttered, looking over the ropes. Dumbledore used his head to point at a book, open on his desk. It was a spell for the ropes and such. So Kuja had used Dumbledore's own wand against him.

I found the counter spell and Dumbledore was free.  
"Thank you, David," he said with a sigh. "We must set about to find a way to save your sister now."

"How?" I asked simply. "I've no idea how Kuja got here, and I've no idea what the heck's goin' on...for all I know, Angel's already dead."

"She isn't, you know it in your heart," Dumbledore sighed. "Come along, we must find some allies for this battle. Riddle has returned."  
"You mean Voldemort?"

"No. His father."

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The next chapter moves fast, so keep on your toes! What does Dumbledore mean, Voldemort's father? Isn't he dead? Why were Angel and the others drawn to Kuja like that? And why was Kuja even there?! (If you don't know who Kuja is, ask. It's kinda hard to explain in the author's notes.)


	17. Kuja and Tom Riddle

Some questions will be answered and new ones will arise today on _Winds of Aeolus_!

Chapter 17: Kuja and Tom Riddle

A ringing laughter filled the still, stale air. When Kuja had appeared, I had fallen into a trance so deep I could not see clearly. However, whatever spell he'd had on me was lifted at last and I could see where I was. I wish I couldn't.

"Angel? Are you all right?" Draco helped me to my feet. 

"Yeah, Angel, you okay?" Hermione asked quietly.  
"I think I am," I licked my lips and twitched my nose. We were in the same place that I had seen in my dream, or vision, or whatever it had been. The dark room, crowded with things. Things that I could see now that the light was a little better.

Dark powers contained in bottles dripping evil. I didn't have to be able to sense anything; the place reeked of a venomous air which could not be escaped. Immediately, glancing around at the others, I felt ostracized.

Yet I knew that I was not alone.

"So, it appears the dream team has arrived at last," said a sinisterly familiar voice. A voice so familiar, I couldn't help but make a double-take.

"D-Daddy?" I whispered in surprise.  
"No," he laughed, not with my father's voice, but with a whole different tone and purpose. This was not my father. He was cloaked, as Kuja had been. "You will not discover my identity until your death is at hand. Until then, watch." 

A white screen was conjured up, upon which was my brother, the real Dumbledore, and Remus. They were glaring at the screen. The scene flickered a moment, then backed away. The one person I had expected to see was there. Voldemort.

"Get 'im, Dee," I murmured under my breath. "You destroy that baka."  
"Destroy him, yes," hissed the person cloaked as my father. "Then his purpose will be fulfilled and he will be exterminable."

"Exterminable!?" I shouted, turning in a wave of white fury toward the man posed as my father. "What the hell?" The gears in my head clicked and finally, I landed upon the man's true identity.

"Aeolus," Draco growled, falling into a warrior's stance he had learned from reading my mind, most likely. 

"Of course," his facade disappeared with a whisper of wind. "And you know my son, of course, the one you fight now."  
"S-So you're really..." my eyes went wide in shock.  
"Tom Marvolo Riddle, the original," Draco's voice mirrored my thoughts. "A demon beyond all thoughts."  
"Precisely," Aeolus grinned. "I am the Opposite of yourself, Angel. The precise mirror to the girl who changes winds, always for the better. I change them for the worst."

"Your winds may blow, Aeolus," I drew myself up high, an indignant look upon my face. I did not know what he was talking about, with all the "good winds" stuff, but I did know a little about him. "But you forget one thing."  
"What's that?"

"That you brought not only me, but my friends as well!" I gave a single, simple wave of my hand, and the others, including myself, suddenly changed. Hair lengthened, straightened, changed to one shade of pure white. Eyes became a color of purest silver, the color of the purest dragon scale. Clothes wrapped themselves around their person, forming a simple robe of clear white and clear silver, the wands in each hand becoming a staff of silver, with a single simple ruby embedded at the top.

"The Winds of Aeolus blow strong," I grinned, my pale face drawn in a simplistic satisfied gesture. "But the Winds of Angels blow stronger!"

Harry, Hermione, Draco, Hagrid, Ron, and myself lowered the new staffs, most not even realizing what they were doing. As quickly as a silver light shot from the tip of each ruby-encrusted staff, we were back inside Dumbledore's office, as if it had never been.

David stared at the six of us. He was surprised, to say the least. Voldemort lay dead at his feet, Dumbledore and Remus both breathing hard, staring at us as though we'd all gone mental.

"Well," David coughed promptly. "What happened while I was here?"

We all launched into an explanation of what had happened at once.

***

When we had finally gotten everything straightened out, we headed back to our dorms, Dumbledore stressing it on us not to tell a soul. With that bearing in mind, Hermione and I went to our dorm, Draco to his, Harry, David, and Ron to theirs, Hagrid to his hut, and Remus to his office.

No one asked where we had gotten our sudden scars the next morning, nor did they ask what all the commotion had been about. When things had settled down, two days before Christmas break (we would be spending it with the Weasleys), I headed to Professor Dumbledore's office on my own, wanting to know something.  
Draco intercepted me on the way.

"I want to see Dumbledore, Draco, can I get by?" I asked after a moment of trying to dance out of his reach.  
"I know where and why you are going," he smiled sadly. "You want to know what the hat meant, don't you?"

"Yes," I said hesitantly.

"You chose to be in Griffindor. I chose to go into Slytherin to please my father. You know as well as I do that it's the choices we make that makes us who we are," Draco said. 

"I know, Draco, but-"  
"Come with me, Angel," he led me by the hand through the corridor and stopped outside of the old common room, the one in which Hermione and I had been closed into with Remus.   
"I've already seen this place, Draco, why-"  
He placed his index finger over my lips, quieting me before I asked the question. "I only want you to see something."  
"B-But Draco..."

"Don't worry," he smiled warmly as I blushed. "Just trust me."

I entered the room after he had struck the stone a few times. Inside, an obvious party was being held.

"What is this?" I asked, shocked.

"It's a celebration, Angel. For you and for me."

"Huh? Why me? Why you?"

"You're achievement last night, and my birthday," he smiled again. "And for me being the first student transfer in a few centuries."  
"Transfer?"

"I'm in Griffindor now, too."

With that, we entered the room and the he led a slow dance. Draco Malfoy, twelve years old. Angel Galis, for her defeat of Aeolus.

Wait a minute!

"If we destroyed Aeolus..." I whispered carefully, suddenly stilled by the realization as it hit me. "Then I'll never be able to go home."

"No," Draco shook his head sadly. "Never."

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???!!! What the heck?! We can't go home? WAHHHHHH!!!!!


	18. Conclusion Or Is It?

I know your all blinking like...Whoa...what just happened here? But stick with me, this is the conclusion of Winds of Aeolus, Part I in this story. I dunno how many parts there'll be, but we still haven't reached the ultimate plot of this full story. Hey, it's all good!

***

Chapter 18: Conclusion. Or is it?

The train whistle blew loudly, signaling the time to leave. Angel, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I were already on board, so we weren't among those racing to clamber aboard the Hogwarts Express, bound for King's Cross for Christmas holidays.

All was silent inside the compartment. We were all brooding over our sudden realization. David and I would never get to go home, ever. We'd have to live here. But our real parents were in the other dimension, and we couldn't continue burdening the Weasleys and Grangers, nor could we stay at Hogwarts.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked my sister with a sigh.

"I dunno, babe. It's outta my hands right now," she also sighed and leaned back against the seat. "We'll wait until toward May, when things get a little more settled."

"Okay, but early May," I said. "We can't procrastinate on something like this."  
"Whoa, baby learned a new word," Angel smiled weakly and clapped her hands softly. "I don't believe it."  
"Come _on_, Angel, snap out of this!" I shouted finally. "Feeling sorry for yourself isn't gonna get you no where!"

"I know," she sighed and sat up, crossing her arms over her chest. "I just can't help thinking about it. We're never gonna get home, babe. We're never gonna get to see Mom in her wheelchair, never see her tell another joke, never get birthday present from her. We are never gonna see Dad again, never roll our eyes at him telling us that what we watch is dumb, yet he secretly watches it with us anyway. We're never gonna see Matthew again--as if that's a problem."

"The point is, we're not going to get back just moping around. We may just be able to make it for ourselves here and now," I took her by the shoulders. "Forget it. We have no idea how we're going back, if or when, so just forget that and look forward. You've always wanted to be here, in another dimension, and now you've got your wish."  
"Yeah," she smiled. "I know, baby. It's just...just that we aren't sure of anything. We've got seven years before either of us can have full custody of ourselves, on our own, and we really don't have a set place to stay."  
"I don't think that will be a major problem," Hermione smiled sadly. "You're always welcome at our house, you know."  
"And I'm sure my mum and dad won't mind, either," Ron said. 

"I may not be able to guarantee a place to stay," Harry smiled. "But you're surrounded by friends who know what's going on. And believe me, you'll never be alone again."

Angel smiled and a small tear crept down her cheek. She wiped it away and sighed.   
"You know, we aren't even really sure that we destroyed Aeolus," she said. "And he had lot's of connections. People might be mad at us."  
"Stop being so pessimistic!" I clubbed her on the head. "If he's still alive, we'll clobber him again and again and again till he's nothin' but a pile of dung. And that is a promise."

So we laughed along the road toward the Weasley home. 

***

A system was made between the Weasleys and the Grangers, both of whom understood immediately the perils the Galis children faced. The authors don't know whether or not Aeolus lived. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he had another son who attacked the very next year.

Who knows?

The holes are deep, and the galaxies within extraordinary. The Winds of Aeolus may lead you down a war-beaten path, but Aeolus, the creature who brings this upon you, will always make one fatal mistake; he leaves room for you to make friends.

Those friends are your Angels, your guardian Angels. They throw stones at Goliath and defeat him with his own sword, displaying his head for all to see the truth. The Winds of Angels counter the Winds of Aeolus, forever and a day. Your friends are by your side, through thick and through thin. Closest of all is your best friend, your brother or your sister, whether you've adopted them as such or they're your blood, like David and Angel.

For all the Angels and Davids who live in this world, we bid you a good morning, for every moment is a morning for which to rise up and walk in. So good morning, everyone, and hope forever for the Winds of Aeolus never to blow down your path.

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The End! Well, what did you think? Are we good or what?! Come back later for an all-new adventure, coming to Angel Sari Neko Jeminie Productions this May! Or sooner, if I have any say in it. I've still gotta work out a few kinks to work out.


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